Connections
by alycenwonder
Summary: Nettie is special, Leila knows that. But how long can they hide her before people start to notice Nettie's strange behavior and wild abilities? Co-Written with Realm1993. Damon/OC and Klaus/OC lemons later on as well as AU in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is going to be very special! Co-Written with Realm1993. We will both have our own OC. Mine will be Nettie/Nettle and Realm1993 will be writing for her OC Leila! This is one hundred percent 50/50. Please review and let us know just what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter one:**

It was the way it was. She'd watched from outside her window all night as the girl with brown hair held and comforted the blond. Matt did everything he could to cheer up the crying female.

The faces of those three people, sitting outside the house she lived across from, looking as if their whole world was falling apart around them, were familiar faces. Leila had seen them many times at school, passing them by in the hallways, or sitting at the table across from them at lunch. She may have even been in a few classes with them, though she hadn't taken too much notice of them.

But that night had been different. Something had made Leila curious, made her feel like she should have been out there comforting the blond girl too. Her sadness was projected like a contagious virus. She couldn't help but feel down and blue, despite not actually being with the small group herself. Leila couldn't help but wonder what had happened. It must have been something terrible to keep the three friends crying into the middle of the night.

A knocking came at her door suddenly, and Leila jumped, turning around in her seat in front of her desk.

"What is it?" Nettie muttered, leaning against the door frame. She was tired and it showed in the lines on her face.

Leila looked back at her and sighed. "I wonder what happened? Caroline's out there crying with Elena and Matt."

Nettie walked over to the window to see what Leila was going on about. She knew the girl's outside the window well. At least their faces. They were around school, here and there. But she never felt much of an urge to meet them. She was a bit of a loner, aside from Leila there was no one she cared to speak to. But Leila had noticed them too and was curious.

"Think we should say something? Maybe see if they're okay?" Leila turned back in her seat to look out the window once more. She frowned. "Wait, they're gone?"

* * *

The night had been long. Nettie hadn't slept much, thinking about her friends face earlier. She needed something she wasn't getting from her. The thought of new friends made Nettie uncomfortable. But for Leila she would do anything. She was the only real family Nettle had in this world.

She could hear Leila's breath behind her as she sat on their shared window sill. The house wasn't a mansion. They had what they needed. And if Nettie was honest, she loved sharing a room with Leila. She felt like she could protect her friend better that way. Not that she knew what there was out there that would require her protection. But the feeling was there in the background of her mind.

Leila stirred under her covers, turning to look up at the open window. "What are you doing?" She murmured, watching her friend stare out into the darkness.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep Lei." Nettie said, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"You are such a weirdo. We have a long day tomorrow. Come back to bed." Leila said, throwing a pillow at her friend.

The girls giggled, and, smiling wide, Nettle hopped off the window sill and sat down on the bed next to Leila, handing her the pillow back. "Goodnight, Leila."

"Night, Weirdo." Leila whispered, pulling her blankets up higher.

* * *

Leila clutched her backpack tight in her hands as she exited the high school with Nettie. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd be able to spot Elena, Caroline or Matt. She kind of wanted to ask them what had happened... Leila sighed, her shoulders slumped. She'd do what she always did: Just watch, because it seemed more comfortable from a distance.

"You're looking for them again." Nettle said, watching her friends face carefully.

"… Maybe." Leila looked at Nettie from the corner of her eye. "You're not the least bit curious?"

"Not really. But if you are.." She would make the effort. Even if she felt like her heart would explode. Her nerves got to her, this was one of those times.

Leila rose her eyebrows at her friend. She could tell something was off, but she wasn't exactly sure what it was. She looked back to the crowd of students, searching for one of the three who'd been outside last night.

When Leila finally did spot Elena, she was climbing into a Chevy Camaro Convertible.

"Well, guess I'm not asking Elena about Caroline... It's probably better I don't anyway. Probably would have been weird." Leila looked to Nettle with a half-smile.

"Well I am sure Caroline is fine. She is dramatic enough for all of us Lei. Today she will be happy, tomorrow sad." Nettie told her friend. She felt her breathing slow upon the realization that she didn't have to socialize.

"You're right." Leila gave her a full-on toothy grin. Leila looked to the powder-blue convertible again, and watched as it turned out of the parking lot, the driver a young man with hair as dark as midnight and a smirk that made Leila feel uneasy.

"We should get ready for tonight. If you are still sure you want to even go?" Nettie asked, hoping the answer would be no. She wasn't to keen on showing off any type of skin to anyone. She liked the comfort of baggy clothes. People paid her less attention that way.

"Well, I think whether or not I want to go is really the issue. I'm a part of the founding families... And I mean, I don't really see the harm in it anyway." Leila twirled. "Fancy ball gowns and dancing? It'll be fun."

"Fine. We go. But I am not dancing." Nettie grumbled, pulling her books tighter towards her chest.

Leila giggled. "We'll just have to see about that."

* * *

The two girls pulled themselves from Leila's beater car. The paint was chipping off the front but Nettie told her friend that this added life to the old girl. Who wanted new, shiny and boring? Not Nettie.

"Ugh I hate this already." Nettle grumbled again for the hundredth time. Why, why, why did they have to do this? She didn't know. But she did it anyways. For Leila.

"Is it the heels? Or the skirts?" Leila laughed. "You'll be fine. You don't even have to mingle if you don't want to. Just stand at the punch bowl and smile." Leila dusted off her dress, shaking the skirts a bit.

"It's the heels and the skirts. And this!" She stared down the dress uncomfortably. "You can see things! It's awful." She winced as her friend grinned in return. She could see Leila was loving every second of her torture.

"Gotta make the boys turn their heads, Nettie. I mean, you're pretty enough as it is. You don't need fancy dresses and make-up to do that. But still, you can't say that it isn't a little fun." Leila grabbed Nettie's hand and tugged gently. "C'mon. Let's get inside, see what everyone is up to."

"Do we have to?" Nettle waited but her friend's silence told her what she wanted to know. They were going inside. They were going to dance and do cheesy things. And Nettie was going to vomit. "Party on." She said under her breath as Leila walked her up the steps.

The girls walked inside, into a large room filled almost to the point of discomfort with people. She could feel the nervousness radiating off of Nettie beside her.

Leila looked around, seeing who exactly had attended this unexpected ball. "Oh, look it's Elena." Leila stood on her tiptoes as a man with golden-brown hair walked in her line of sight. He headed over to Elena and they started talking. "Wasn't he on the football team a little while ago?"

"Maybe. How would I know?" Nettie asked her, raising her brow. She most certainly had seen the guy. But past the hallways she wouldn't know.

Leila shrugged. She pursed her lips, her eyes widening, at another man approaching Elena. The three conversed for only a moment before she took the arm of both men and walked closer to the spiraling staircase to the left side of the room.

"Someone's popular with the men," Leila said, almost as an afterthought.

"Yuck." Nettle watched the two lead Elena away. She wasn't really sure what to make of them. But something was off. At least when she was near them.. She felt something. She couldn't explain it. She had this stuff happen every now and then. She shrugged it away. It never lead her anywhere anyways. Would she even really want to know?

* * *

Leila did her duty as a descendant of the Founding Families by mingling and chatting on a grander scale than she knew Nettie would ever feel comfortable doing. After a while, she retreated back to her friend's little hideaway. A man cleared his throat, and everyone looked up to him where he stood on the stairs.

"Uh... If everyone could gather please."

Leila and Nettie looked up to the voice to find the man standing with his entire family: Three other men and a young woman. At least she was sure they were related even though two of them were fairer haired.

Nettie looked up, placing her punch glass down on the white table beneath her. She had camped out there a while as her friend mingled. She had wondered how long it would take for Leila to wander off on her. But it was alright. She had a mischievous plan. Just as her friend distracted herself, Nettle poured an entire bottle of Vodka into the pink mixture. She ran her finger lightly through the strange brew, before turning her back on it.

But as Leila joined her the fun was ruined and replaced by something else. The Mikaelson's.

"Welcome. Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance."

A woman came down the steps then, probably their mother. She had a sort of aura about her that made Leila feel as if the woman felt she was better than everyone else, even though she probably would come off as modest and charitable to most.

"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom."

"Nooo." Nettie whined under her breath. She was hoping to escape at this point.

"Yessss." Leila took Nettle by the hand and dragged her along with her, into the mass of moving bodies. Already, Leila herself was feeling a high, a feeling she got when she actually took a leap and interacted with others during dances and parties and other social events.

Leila looked to Nettie and shrugged. "I should have gotten us dates... Or at least some guys who'd dance with us."

"No. You should have gotten you a date and left me at home." Nettie said, inching away from her friend, towards the punch table. If she could just slip away without Leila noticing she would be home free. She might even be able to slip her stupid heels off back at the car..

Leila sighed with a smile. "You don't have to dance, Nettie, you know that, right? I, on the other hand, really, really want to... I need a partner..." Leila's eyes darted back and forth across the room, searching for someone who deemed a reasonable dance partner.

Nettie watched as her friend scanned the room. She didn't get it.. Her need to interact with them. But it was there even if she feared it.

Nettie sighed, slipping away swiftly. She hobbled out the big doors and away from all the happy frolicking. If she could just make it to their car...

Leila took a deep breath before walking straight into the crowd. She grabbed the hand of the first person without a partner she could find and started twirling about to the music. After a while, she picked Elena and the dark haired man out in the crowd... It was kind of simple, to pick them out amongst the dancers. Elena and the man stood out like sore thumbs...

And they were sort of arguing, not that very many people had noticed. She quickly pushed him away, a look of anguish written on her face as she stormed from the dance floor.

The dark haired man looked upset Leila decided as she ignored her dance partner. He was breathing on her and smelled awful.

Leila was more than glad when the dance called for a change of partners. She was spun into the chest of another man. His eyes still lay on the doorway that Elena had fled through, but he danced anyways. Why? Leila wasn't so sure. But she did wonder if she cared?

Damon watched after the doppelganger. He thought of her that way at first, on purpose. But lately he was leaning towards a different feeling. She was ruining everything for him. How was he supposed to make his brother's life hell now? It would break her heart.

He felt himself move on the stiff floor beneath him, cluing in finally that he had a new partner. His eyes trailed her wavy, auburn hair, till his eyes finally met hers.

"This isn't right." Damon said without thinking. "I'm still dancing."

"What was that?" The girl looked up to Damon, with her eyebrows knit in an upside 'v'.

"Why am I still dancing. I should be chasing, not dancing. I should be out there ruining my brothers night." He continued to talk, as if to himself. He could always glamor the girl later.

He did this often. He would tell everything to some random person only to take the memory of it away later. Did it make him feel any better? No. But who else was there? He had no one to talk to.

The girl bit down on her pink, bottom lip. "Uh... Well, it is a party... Why ruin it for your brother?"

"Why not ruin it?" Damon raised his eyebrow at her. Of course she didn't understand it.. His issues with Stefan. Who would?

"Well... He's your brother... Shouldn't you want him to be happy? No matter what? That's what siblings are for... Right?" The girl shrugged as he spun her once.

"Do you have a brother?" He realized he hadn't asked her for a name. But he didn't normally care that much.

"No, but I have a sister... Well, she was adopted, but she's my sister all the same."

"Well.. It isn't the same. Did your sister steal the person you love? Did she turn you into a vampire and leave you to fend for yourself?" He said the words without thinking. He stared down at her. He demanded an answer!

The girl's grip on Damon's hand loosened slightly. He could sense her heartbeat racing, see the nervousness creep into the expression she was wearing on her delicate face.

The girl swallowed hard, "Okay. Well.. If I was turned into a vampire I suppose I might be a little upset. But maybe.. Maybe there would be things that came along with that which would be kinda... Cool?" She swallowed hard.

Damon stopped. Did she believe him? How could she possibly believe him?

"And... As far as stealing the person you love..." She sighed. "She's the only one I've ever loved as much as I do. We fight, yeah. But Nettie is everything to me."

"I don't even know how to answer that." She obviously didn't get it.. At least he didn't think so. As the song ended he let her go. He wondered if he should remove the memory of their conversation? He had told her he was a vampire and she had believed him. At least he thought so. It didn't matter.. Elena was probably upstairs with Esther.. A woman that Damon was sure was not to be trusted.

"Nice talking with you?" He asked the girl, waiting for her name.

"Leila... And you to...?" She shrugged with a shy smile.

"Damon Salvatore." He said, eying her strangely. It wasn't often he was left with questions. At least not with humans.


	2. Chapter 2

**This story is going to be very special! Co-Written with Realm1993. We will both have our own OC. Mine will be Nettie/Nettle and Realm1993 will be writing for her OC Leila! This is one hundred percent 50/50. Please review and let us know just what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter two:**

Klaus walked down the staircase as the teenagers and adults around him made their way towards the dance floor. It wasn't something he understood. The need to dance. At least not these days. There were more interesting things out there to entertain a person. His eyes moved to Caroline as she swirled around a blond boy.

He felt his face grow hot. He hated the way he needed her. He didn't know why..

"You watch after the blond girl again." Elijah said, taking his spot beside Niklaus.

"Waste of my time really." Klaus lied to his brother.

"It isn't a bad thing you know. You are drawn to good even when you lean towards bad." His brother smiled knowingly. Even when he and his brother fought he still truly saw him for what he was. A lost child. "She shines bright amongst the rest."

Nettie shuffled her way out the large doorway and quickly towards the way outside. She had made it! Freedom. She walked out into the night and scanned the area.

As she made for the stairwell down to the cars she tripped on her dresses, twisting her heel. "God dammit!" She mumbled angrily, taking a seat on the nearest bench.

Niklaus let his eyes wander, allowing them to fall on a blond girl on the nearest bench. Her hair wasn't curly like Caroline's. She wasn't as tall. But there was something he couldn't look away from as she sat muttering obscenities to herself.

"What is that?" Elijah asked his brother, perking up as he took in the air around them. Something sweet drifted past him as they spoke. But it was enough to notice.

"...Something... odd." Klaus narrowed his eyes at the girl and lifted his chin as he watched his brother walk down the rest of the stairwell, in her direction.

"Stupid goddam shoes. Who wears these things? I hate you!" She stammered, pulling the things from her feet grumpily. When she finally managed it she began throwing her shoes into the nearest bush. One by one they hit the wet plants behind her.

Elijah smiled to himself as he watched the girl chuck her shoes away.

He stopped walking when he stepped down on the stair above the one she was sitting on.

The girl looked up at him over her shoulder almost immediately. "You want them? I'll bet you do. They went that way." She told Elijah, pointing towards the bushes.

"Why is it that a young woman like yourself is out here all alone? You're missing all the dancing." He didn't care why she was out here. Anyone could figure it out. Maybe he just had to hear the girl speak a bit longer.

"Because dancing is stupid. Because heels and dresses are stupid." She said, forgetting that she did not know the man. She reached down to her swollen ankle a moment, wincing as she did so. Her hand heated at the touch and she knew it was done. "I'm going to my car. I'm putting on pants and runners. Then I am going back inside to talk my friend into leaving."

"So soon? That is a real shame." Elijah narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly at the girl. "At least let me walk with you to your car. The darkness is full of unexpected dangers."

She mumbled under her breath as she stood up onto her feet. The pain in her ankle gone as if it were never there. "I'm not an invalid. I certainly don't need help changing." She just wanted to be left alone. She didn't care that he was mildly attractive. She never cared.

"I truly hope I did not insult you. I will leave you be then, Miss? Thank you for stopping by, and thank your friend as well, for my family and I." He watched as she continued her angry mumbling, huffing as she shrugged him off. He had hoped to get a name but had not been so lucky.

Nettie pulled the car door open and shoved herself inside it. It was a rather ridiculous thing if you had been lucky enough to watch it. The dress was so poofy it barely fit inside the small metal object. But eventually she managed to get changed, climbing back out into the cool night air.

* * *

Leila nonchalantly strolled out of the ballroom after Damon, a few minutes after he'd left. She had to tell Nettie. She just had to! A vampire?! What had he been talking about?! Was it all real?

"Nettie?" Leila called softly, as she walked over to the punch bowl, where she figured her sister would be.

Nope. She wasn't there.

Leila let her eyes wander the large, bright room. She couldn't help but feel like she was being watched, or even worse, being looked at as a target now that possibly Damon's secret was out.

Nettie made her way up the stone steps, not seeing the weird, proper man from earlier. She sighed to herself. She was so happy to avoid him.

Opening the door to go find Leila, Nettie blinked twice to find her friend standing right in front of her, hair a mess and face flushed. Leila's eyes looked a little wild.

"What happened to you? You fall down the staircase?" She asked her as she looked Leila up and down a few times. Nothing exciting ever happened to them.

"...I have to tell you something... But you'll probably think I've gone crazy." Leila frowned. "I don't exactly know if I believe it myself..."

"Elena exploded and everyone left the party? We get to leave early!" Nettie said excitedly, raising her fist into the air. But Leila's face didn't change. She didn't laugh or sigh in exasperation like she normally would.

"I'm serious this time, Nettie." Leila took Nettie's arm and leaned in to whisper in her ear, eyes darting across the room a few times before speaking. "Someone just told me that he's a vampire."

"Oh. Right." Nettie said, sighing as she realized what was going on. "Stefan, right?"

Leila blinked twice, staring Nettle in the eyes. "Wait, what? Why Stefan?" Leila scratched the back of her head. "And... you didn't laugh at me."

"Because. You know me, I feel things. Peoples health.. Their state of minds. He doesn't have one. He's pretty blank all the time. That isn't normal Lei."

Leila looked down at their feet, tapping her toe against Nettie's runners. "Well, it wasn't Stefan... It was another man. Remember the guy who we saw driving Elena home this morning?"

"Yep. The dark and broody dude." She nodded.

"Well, you see, we danced and he seemed really upset about something... Well, I don't know why, but he was confiding in me..." Leila shook her head. "Why would he just tell me that and let me walk away? Do you really think it's true?"

"What am I Lei?" She asked, a look of worry on Nettie's face as she asked her question. The same question she and Leila had asked each other a million times over. "Why am I the way I am? Am I possible?"

"I guess you have a point..." Leila hugged herself. "But if you were Damon, would you just tell me your deepest, darkest secret and let me go without doing something about it? I'm kind of scared..."

"I don't know. I would assume by the look of the guy that he has his own things to deal with. Maybe we will get lucky and he will forget about you." Nettle hoped so.

Leila glanced at the staircase going up to the second floor. "I wonder where he left to in such a hurry...?"

Nettie's ears perked up. "Why would you worry?" She asked her friend.

Leila opened her mouth to answer, but immediately shut it. She shrugged. "You know I'm too curious for my own good."

"So we go up there and see what's up." Nettie grabbed her by the arm and began pushing her towards the stairs. "C'mon, you lead the way."

* * *

Leila and Nettle walked as quietly as they could through the hallway. Leila stopped, Nettle bumping into her ruffled skirts, at the sound of a voice.

"Good evening. You're Rebekah's friend. We haven't met."

Leila pressed herself against the wall and peeked slightly around the corner.

"He isn't even here." Nettie began to speak but Leila's hand flew up to quiet her. Nettie huffed, leaning back so that the two men wouldn't see them. She hated being shushed. It never mattered who did it. "Fine. We'll listen to the boring people talk."

"Yeah, uh.. I am Matt Donavan." The blonde boy said back, unsure if he should be alone with Kol. The smile he wore screamed untrustworthy. As he took Kol's hand he began to regret it.

"Kol Mikaelson." Kol squeezed Matt's hand tightly.

Matt screamed in agony and Leila tensed beside Nettie. But Nettie had trouble focusing as she winced against the wall. It was as if she could feel the bones cracking in Matt's hand.

Before either of them could focus Damon came flying out of the hallway behind them towards Kol. "Hey, hey, hey..." Damon stopped behind Kol. "Easy on the hand. Guy's a quarterback."

Before Kol even had a moment to react, Damon shoved him. Matt stepped out of the way, cradling his mangled hand, his face a mask of pure pain.

Leila stepped away from the wall, and Matt looked up to her. Leila's heart skipped a beat as Damon pushed Kol over the edge of the balcony and jumped down after him.

Nettie's head cleared as she stared in shock, her hand on her forehead. Leila jumped up and ran towards Matt without thinking. "Nettie! Nettie!" Leila wasn't too sure what was going on. She wasn't positive she even wanted to know. But one thing was certain, Matt was badly injured, and the only person Leila could think of to help him out was Nettle.

"No." Nettie said, shaking her head stubbornly. "No, Lei! We got our answer. Now we go." She backed up down the hallway. She didn't need this, not now. In front of people who would remember. There was no way she was helping. Besides, what had Matt ever done for her?

"Who are you two? What are you doing here? You should go." Matt shook his head.

Leila looked Matt in the eyes. "No, you're hurt." She looked over her shoulder, to the edge of the balcony where Damon had pushed Kol over. She bit her bottom lip, then snapped her head in Nettie's direction. "Fine. I'll take him down there." Leila hoped that this would snap Nettle out of her stubborn daze.

But it didn't. Nettie shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest as her friend walked with Matt back down the stair case.

The entire Mikaelson clan stood below, watching as the two came towards them. Stefan took over quickly, helping Matt down onto the stair. "Kol broke his hand." Leila said, "Damon stopped him." She felt the need to stand up for the vampire.

"Then he threw him over the fence and broke his neck." Nettie added. "Sucha fun guy Lei." She was pissed right off that she had been brought anywhere near this.

"Kol did this?" Esther asked, looking back at her children.

"I think I know what happened mother. I am so sorry." Rebekah told her, "Kol was upset with you. He wanted to ruin your party. I thought I had talked him out of it."

"Enough!" Elena stammered, moving towards Matt. "Stefan you have to help him. How can he play now?"

"...I'm not too sure I'm comfortable with that, Elena..." Matt said softly, wincing at the slightest touch to his hand.

"...But, Matt..."

"Elena. I'm not drinking Stefan's blood." Matt was being stubborn on the matter. Leila could tell he wasn't going to get help from Stefan, Damon, or the Mikaelsons.

"Nettie can help you." Leila said again, this time giving her friend a stern look. The look that said, 'do it or I will kill you.'

"What? What can she do?" Matt croaked, looking up at Nettle.

"This is what you want?" Nettie asked Leila. "You want me to out myself in front of these.. Things?" She asked.

Leila could almost feel what Nettie was feeling just from the look in her friend's eyes. She couldn't just leave a good person like Matt in a situation... But then again, she knew nothing about these people... These vampires.

Leila swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah."

Nettie sighed, kneeling down to Matt's level. "Kay look football. This isn't going to be all rainbows and sunshine. When I do this it will hurt." She told him, watching his eyes for understanding.

Matt nodded slowly. "What are you?"

"Who knows. Maybe I am some kind of cave dwelling troll." When she looked up at him she tried her best to smile. Obviously she wasn't a cave dwelling troll. As he began to smile back she grabbed his hand.

Slowly her hands warmed, a small white light enveloping it. A loud crack could be heard in the silence around them as the hand knit itself back together. Matt cried out loudly putting his head down against his chest.

She felt each individual person's glare on her back as she ground her teeth together. Although she did not feel the exact pain that Matt did, she felt something close to it. Her head felt hot and sweaty as she released him, stumbling back onto the floor.

"Nettie!" Leila fell to her knees beside her friend and cradled her.

Elena covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide.

"This is rather interesting," Klaus said on a breath. He began to think of all the ways this may be useful to him.

"Indeed it is, my son." Esther's lips were pursed in a tight line across her face. She watched the small girl. She watched her hands as she performed her magic and she watched as whatever she had done took it's toll. This was not something a witch could do. At least not this way. Was there something else other then her family that she had to worry about?

"Come on, we are leaving." Elena said, leading Leila and her friend away from the crowd. Stefan walked behind them, making sure that they were safe. Once they were far enough away Elena spoke again. "What was that?" She asked.

Leila swallowed. She'd known this would come up one way or another. The only thing was, neither she nor Nettie knew exactly what all that was, either. "We don't know," Leila said, hearing a bit of a panic in her tone, though she couldn't figure out exactly why that was. Maybe she was afraid of how the vampires might react?

"She smells different." Stefan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "She isn't human. At least not completely." He looked back at Elena.

"What do you mean she isn't human? She is clearly human." Leila said, standing up for her friend. "She's just different."

"No. Witches are different." He fought back, "Traveler's are different.. But she is not human. There's no way." He had never seen a witch or a traveler who smelled like Nettie did.

"It's fine Lei. I'm fine." Nettie said, shrugging Leila's hands from her body. "I don't need you to stand up for me this time. I want to hear what he has to say."

Leila sighed, feeling almost bad that all this happened now that it was over with, but at the same time, she almost felt relief. If Stefan had even the littlest explanation to what was going on with her sister, than she was all ears. "Okay." She looked to Stefan expectantly. "Would you mind telling us more?"

"I can't tell you anymore then that." He shrugged. He hadn't smelled anything like it before. Ever.

"So that's it? That is all you can tell us?" Leila asked, getting a bit angry.

"You walked into all this. Not the other way around." He snapped back.

Elena looked up to Stefan with lips parted in surprise. "Stefan..." She frowned, giving the girls an apologetic look.

Leila shook her head. "No, he's right." Leila looked to Nettie. "It's probably best we get going."

"No. No wait." Elena said, stopping them. "You have to understand what just happened in there. When you did what you did.. You showed yourself to the Original vampires."

"They aren't going to understand." Stefan cut in.

"Stefan!" She scolded him again, "Look.. There are things.. Bad things in Mystic Falls. They are part of those things. Now that they have seen what you did back there I fear that they would try to hurt your sister."

Leila and Nettle exchanged looks. "What do we do?"

"You stick with us. You saved one of my best friends.. " Elena looked at Nettle as she spoke. "Together we will protect what's ours."


	3. Chapter 3

**This story is going to be very special! Co-Written with Realm1993. We will both have our own OC. Mine will be Nettie/Nettle and Realm1993 will be writing for her OC Leila! This is one hundred percent 50/50. Please review and let us know just what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter three:**

Leila looked at her sister. It'd been a long weekend for the both of them. Not only did they have the Original Vampires on their minds, but now Elena and her friends wanted to help them, and Leila almost felt bad about that.

She'd never meant to get directly involved in the lives of the people she just sat and observed for so long. It was a scary thought. And on top of that, she knew Nettie didn't really like socializing, and this was kind of throwing her straight into the lion's den.

Elena had exchanged phone numbers with Leila that night, telling her to call if any of the Original's happened to show up at their doorstep. She hadn't heard from them since, but she wasn't expecting the silence to last much longer.

"So we have to invite them in?" That seemed super silly to Nettie. "So as long as we stay inside we are safe?" She asked Leila.

"I mean, I guess they can't physically get inside... Doesn't mean they can't throw a grenade or something." Leila shivered at the thought.

"A grenade? Really? They have grenades?" Nettle sat back against her usual spot on the window sill. "I want grenades."

"I don't know if they have grenades, Nettie... It was just an example." Leila blew a tuft of hair out of her face, half-smiling.

Nettie watched Leila carefully. She could see the worry hidden inside her. She had exposed herself to some dangerous people and now her friend was paying the price. That had never been her intention.

"Maybe we could run. It's not like your mom would care." Nettie said finally breaking the silence.

Leila seemed a little surprised by Nettie's comment. "She's never at home, yeah, but it doesn't mean she wouldn't care. If she didn't care, she wouldn't have adopted you. I wouldn't have you."

"Okay so we don't run." She shrugged herself further into the pillow beneath her. "That means befriending those people.." She didn't want friends. But was there any other choice? She wasn't so sure.

"...I know you're uneasy about this... I don't exactly like the idea of becoming friends with the same things that might want us for their own evil doings either... But Elena seems to be okay... She's human... She's like us, right? If they don't hurt her, they wouldn't harm us... I guess..." Leila sighed and drew a hand over her face.

"We can't know that. But I can't say I am not interested in learning more about them." How had Elena and Stefan hidden away for so long?

"Yeah, they've got me curious too... Maybe they can help us figure out what's up with your healing abilities? The strange things that happen to you?" Leila shrugged one shoulder.

Nettle wasn't so sure she wanted to know. But maybe it was time to smell the roses. She couldn't hide forever. Not now.

Leila jumped slightly in her seat at the sound of her phone vibrating on the desk beside her. She quickly snatched it up and checked the caller ID.

Leila looked to Nettle. "It's Elena. Should I answer?"

"Oh you want me to lie?" She teased. She sat foreword on the bench. "Answer it."

Leila took a deep breath before answering. She put the phone to her ear and looked at Nettie as she spoke. "Hello?" She sat the phone on the table and set it to speaker phone so Nettie could hear the conversation.

"Hey, Leila?" She asked, not so sure she had the right number. "It's Elena. You need to come to the boarding house so we can talk about some things."

"Uh... Oh, okay... We'll need directions... Or someone to pick us up I guess." Leila shrugged at Nettie.

"No.. I know the way." Nettie said, surprising Leila.

"Oh... Okay then." Leila shook her head, with a look that said, 'Wait. How?' written on her face. "Nettie will get us there, I guess. We'll see you in a bit?"

"Sorry.. I uh. I like the architecture?" She really didn't have a real reason. Just that she had been drawn to the place. Or the woods nearby. On the days Leila stayed late at school, Nettie had gone walking out there.

"All right. We'll see you." Elena hung up the phone.

* * *

They pulled into the driveway of the boarding house. The gravel crushed under the crappy tires of the beater car. It screeched to a halt as the girls sat back as if waiting for something.

"So this is it?" Leila asked Nettle. "We are going in there. You are okay with that?"

"I guess I am going to have to be okay with it. No promises." Nettie told her friend. What other choice did they have?

"All right then. Here we go." Leila unbuckled herself and climbed out of the car, Nettie following suit. The girls walked slowly up to the large front door of the Salvatore Boarding House and looked at the rustic door knocker. Leila grasped it tight in her hands, taking a moment before slamming it against the old wood a few times. She dropped the metal handle quickly.

Elena smiled out at them as the door open wide. The smile was tainted with a hint of distress, though, Nettie could tell clearly. "Come in." She muttered, moving from the door frame.

"This place is huge." Nettie whispered. "Oh! Look, shiny things!" She said excitedly, moving towards a sword over the mantle.

Leila held her hand out to her sister, but she was already out of reach. "Uhhh..." Leila sighed with a slight smile. "Only you, Nettie," she said, mostly to herself.

Leila looked around the hallway, noticing a huge room to her right, where she found Damon and Stefan lounging on the couch.

"Do you mind my asking why exactly you wanted us to come here?" Leila looked to Elena. "I'm not trying to sound rude. It's just... We're walking into a stranger's home and we don't know why." She tried so hard to ignore Nettie who was now jumping as high as she could to try and get the sword down.

"We said we'd try to keep you two safe... We wanted to talk about a few things regarding that amongst other subjects," Elena replied. Elena's eyes moved to the blonde, leaping up and down. "Uhh... What is she doing?"

"Nettie likes shiny things and sharp things... She's an odd person..."

"Ah. I see that." Elena turned and smiled widely as the small blonde was pushed aside by Damon.

"No touching." He said, smirking at her. He wagged his finger in her face. "Danger. Sharp."

"But I want to see it!" She said back, making grumpy faces at the broody dark haired dude.

Leila took another moment to look at the home before being ushered by Elena towards a seat in front of the huge fireplace. "Nice home," Leila said on a breath. It was an understatement.

"Yep. It's old." Elena said, still distracted by Damon and Nettie. "Look.. We need your help. Niklaus and Elijah are going to come for you. They want to use your sister to help them fight Esther."

"How can she help fight Esther?" Leila asked, confused. She shook her head. "What exactly happened yesterday for you to know this?"

"Long story," Stefan cut in. "But it doesn't really matter now. We need to keep everyone safe. Klaus and Elijah... Hell, all the Mikaelson vampires, are dangerous beyond your understanding."

"Wouldn't they be after Damon?" Leila asked. "Didn't he kill Kol last night." She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Murdering people..

"Kol can't die." Elena giggled as she said it. "He's one of the Original Vampires. He can't die, period."

"I stand to correct you, missy." Damon came in, towing Nettie behind him. "There's always a way. We're just yet to find it."

"As of now, the only way we've found to deal with them is with the wood from the White Oak tree that was used in their creation," Stefan explained.

"Whoa, whoa. We are not killing anyone." Leila said, shaking her head. "we didn't sign up for murder."

"We didn't sign up for anything." Nettie reminded her. "Please can I at least just touch it?" She said, changing the subject randomly as she stared back at Damon.

Damon gave a loud, annoyed, sigh and rolled his eyes. "For the love of-"

"Nettie, sit down. You can touch it later." Leila said, exasperation in her tone.

"Dammit!" She said, dropping down into the couch next to Leila. "This is boring!"

Leila patted Nettie's leg, smiling at Elena and Stefan sincerely. "Ignore her. She gets like this sometimes."

"Okay I'll wait." Nettie said. She looked up at Elena with serious eyes, "Who are we killing?"

Leila's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "Nettie!" She frowned deeply. "How could you say that?"

"What! We are here. I am bored. I want that shiny sword! If I do what they want I get it. Right?" Nettie raised a brow at Damon. He smiled back at her oddly. "See! Okay! So who are we killing?"

Leila sat silently, fidgeting with the bangle on her wrist, a frown on her face. "Go ahead, tell us. What do you want us to do exactly?"

"We just need to make sure that whatever Esther does.. We don't interfere." Stefan told them.

"No! Hang on a second." Elena snapped back. "They are all linked. We can't kill them all. Elijah doesn't deserve any of this. He helped me. He still helps me." She tried reminding him of that. But it had been a while since he seemed to care much.

"How many times do I have to tell you about collateral damage, Elena?" Damon interjected. "It's worth it to have Klaus gone for good."

Leila was beginning to feel mighty uncomfortable. They were talking so lightly of death and killing... That wasn't normal.

"What has he done?" Nettie asked them. Her mind was still fogged by the treasure on the mantle. But she was beginning to realize what they were really here for. "Why are we killing him? Why is it worth killing them all?"

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at her feet.

Stefan sighed solemnly as he started to explain. "Klaus needs Elena's blood to make his hybrids... Half vampire, half werewolf creations that do whatever the hell he wants them to. He wants to take her and continuously drain her until he has an army."

"He murdered Jeremy.. He murdered Jenna." Elena told them. "He doesn't care about anyone or anything if it stands in his way. That is Klaus. He thinks he rules the world."

"Okay, so what about the others?" Leila asked them. Was it worth it? How many people died around Elena? Maybe she had been wrong getting them into all this.

* * *

After about an hour of talking there was a knock at the boarding house door. "We aren't expecting anyone." Elena said, raising her brow at Stefan.

She got up, heading for the door. "Elijah." She said cheerfully. She kept reminding herself that they couldn't really be friends. He could turn around and hurt her just as badly as Klaus. But even though she knew this, she still felt sorry for him. She had grown to care about the proper, well dressed Original vampire. Something about him made her smile. These days that was something special.

"What is it?" She asked him, plastering on her fake happy smile.

"Elena... I don't mean to intrude, but I was hoping you might accompany me. I want to show you something."

Elena thought hard on it for a moment. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but Elijah had no clue that Esther was planning on killing him along with Klaus... And he'd been good to her, if anything up until that point.

"Okay. But Nettie comes to." That way if she was hurt she would have someone who would actually help her.

Elijah rose a brow, eyeing the strange girl sneaking into the hallway, looking up at an old sword hanging on the wall. She began hopping for it, trying to reach it. Elijah smirked. He could tell the others had forgotten the small blonde. "I don't see any harm in that..."

* * *

The three misfits climbed out of the small beater car. Nettie loved every second of it. She was adamant that they take her and Leila's vehicle just so that she could see the proper Elijah Mikaelson inside the thing.

"I'd forgotten how much I missed this land." Elijah said, straightening out as they walked along the line of trees.

"I can't even imagine what it must have been like a thousand years ago." Elena smiled a small smile at him.

"A thousand years?" She asked him curiously. Was he really that old? "Geezer status. Cool."

He shrugged her strange comment off and went on, "You know, your school was built over an Indian village. Where I saw my first werewolf. The town square was where the natives would gather to worship. Matter of fact, near that, there was a field where wild horses use to graze."

"That's incredible," Elena said, thinking about it.

"Did you eat them?" Nettie asked. She was hungry.. She could eat a horse right then.

"Nettle they did not eat the horses. Jesus!" Elena was shocked at the girl. She wasn't sure why at this point.

Elijah looked to the girls. "Come." He waved with his hand and they followed, the dried leaves crunching under their feet.

Elijah took them to a small clearing. It didn't look too different from the rest of the forest to Elena, but Nettie admired it greatly.

"Do you know this place too?" Elena asked.

"I do. Below us is a cavern I use to play in as a boy. Connects to a system of tunnels that stretch across the entire area. Perhaps it's nature's way of providing us with shelter against the savagery of the full moon. My mother said there must be a balance."

"She was right." Nettie spoke up. "There's some kind of magic here." The ground beneath her feet felt different.

"You can tell?" He raised his brow. She said the strangest things but under it all she was clearly special.

Nettie nodded.

Elena rubbed her arms, a chill blowing through the barren forest. "Elijah, we should probably go home."

"I admire you, Elena. You remind me of qualities I valued long before my mother turned us. It's not in your nature to be deceitful and yet when I asked about your meeting with my mother the other night, you lied to my face."

"That's not true. I told you that all your mother wanted was a new start."

"You like him." Nettie threw in, watching the two babble. "So why are you lying? I don't like it." It made her feel all icky. "Your mother is a crazy bitch." Nettie turned to Elijah. "Killing her entire family... Who does that?"

"I can hear your heartbeat. It jumps when you are dishonest with me. You lied to me at the ball, you are lying to me now. Tell me the truth. Even your friend knows that you are being deceitful."

"I never wanted this to happen..." Elena frowned.

"What, Elena?"

"We were told that whatever was going to be in that coffin was going to kill Klaus. When we found out that it was your mother... We didn't know what to think."

"Your all linked now. At the ball your mother slipped something into your wine... Surprise!" She shook her hands in the air. "Kill one, kill all."

"I'm so sorry, Elijah. I wish there was something I could do to help." Elena was pleading for his trust.

"You know, one thing I've learned in my time on this Earth... Be careful what you wish for." He broke a hole into ground and shoved Elena, tossing her into the darkness below. He looked up, but the other one was gone. Just like that. Into nothing.

* * *

She pushed the doors open as she made for the bar. She was hoping to at least get a snack before Elena called her for a ride home. She had just left them there. But to be honest she hadn't been any closer to that damn sword. And Elijah was boring her.

"Nettie!" Damon hissed beside her.

Nettie looked to her right to see Damon standing by the front door. He motioned with a cock of his head to follow him back outside. He put a finger to his lips, to tell her to keep her mouth shut.

She didn't want to, but she obliged anyway.

"What is it?" she asked when they exited. "I'm starving!"

"We need a little distraction." Damon gave her a smirk.

"I can eat though? Say it. Now, do it." She pressed him.

"Yes. You can eat." He told her, "But do it while you distract."

She rolled her eyes, bored. "Fine. But I get the shiny sword. Otherwise I walk away."

Damon put his hand on the small of her back and opened the door for her. "Whatever you want. Now go. We've got an Original to stake."


	4. Chapter 4

**This story is going to be very special! Co-Written with Realm1993. We will both have our own OC. Mine will be Nettie/Nettle and Realm1993 will be writing for her OC Leila! This is one hundred percent 50/50. Please review and let us know just what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter four:**

Damon gently pushed Nettie towards the door to the Grill as Leila came up the sidewalk, from the car. "Nettie!" Leila called to her sister.

Nettle turned slightly to look at her. "Lei?"

"Be careful," Leila said softly, a look of worry on her face.

Nettie rolled her eyes, of course she would be careful. When she had time to be of course. She pushed her way into the bar and wondered why they couldn't have come with her. Would Niklaus have ignored her?

Pulling up a seat at the bar she motioned for Matt. "I need fries. And onion rings.. And possibly an entire hot fudge sundae." Her face stayed dead serious as she glared up at him. "You think I am joking? I fixed your football hand! I need all those things, okay? I can pay."

He glared back at her as he cleaned a glass behind the bar. She was insane. He remembered now, seeing her in gym class or English. The girl was bonkers. But she seemed to function out in society somehow, right? So he placed her order.

She tapped her fingers on the bar, leaning on one hand. She felt starved. Why her friend hadn't thought to feed her sooner was a mystery to Nettle.

Niklaus and Kol entered The Grill, pushing past some of the regulars. His younger brother had been promised some mischief and Klaus was delivering. Why after his whole family had tried to kill him? Because for once, he forgave them. He missed them all.

"That one." Kol said, pointing towards the bar without waiting. "She is from last night, isn't she?" He began to move towards the new girl. But a stronger hand stopped him.

"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver." Klaus whispered, "We need her." He wasn't so sure that his plan would work. But until his plan failed he wouldn't let anyone take the mysterious girl and hurt her. He began to move towards the small blonde. Her scent hitting his nostrils as he neared her.

"Nettie!" He said enthusiastically. He took the nearest seat by the girl.

She sighed inwardly, turning her head. She still leaned hard against one hand in boredom. "Oh, it's you. From the terrible family ball."

"Ooh, come on love." Klaus commented, "I'm not as bad as they make me out to be. I am sure you have heard things."

"All hail the great and powerful Original Wiener." She rolled her eyes as Matt placed her sundae in front of her. She perked up immediately.

"Enjoy your sundae," Matt said, looking nervously at the Original sitting beside her. "Can I get you anything?"

"No. But I'll pay for whatever she is having." He said, smirking at Matt. The kid seemed useless. Always around and getting hurt. But he was good bait.

"Are you sure? She is eating the entire restaurant." Matt deadpanned before walking off. If the guy wanted to pay, let him. Douche wad.

"I can pay for my own food. You brothers are so quick to think a woman needs your help. Sheesh! If your brother wanted my shoes so badly all he had to do was ask." She mumbled on.

"Uh..." Niklaus took a moment to try to process her babbling, then gave up almost immediately. "Oh, love, I know you don't need my help. I just came over here to ask if you would join my brother and I for a drink?" He watched her bored eyes. One blue and one brown. Strange he thought, but really catching.

"I would rather die of thirst." She said back, shoving a large bite of ice cream into her gob.

"No, she wouldn't." Matt said, walking by again.

"Okay, maybe not thirst. But no. Eww." Nettie added, waving her hand in Nik's face. "Go away."

Klaus smiled as he got up from the girl's side. She intrigued him. He wasn't so sure she was sane. But that didn't seem to matter. He hadn't thought about Caroline in over twelve hours.

Nettie watched Klaus begin to walk away from the corner of her eye. Why exactly had she been distracting him? Damon had never given her a reason... Ah, well. What did it matter? That sword was hers now. She looked back to her food. That conversation hadn't been as bad as she'd anticipated...

Nettle sighed as she heard the door squeak open and then slam shut upon Klaus's exit. She munched on her onion rings a few minutes before someone sat down beside her. "Hey, Lei."

"Damon told me to wait in here..." Leila rubbed her arm. "I think they're going to really kill them," she said softly, so no one could here but Nettie.

"To bad. The one that was just here seemed so.. Nah. It doesn't really matter. Onion ring?" She wagged the fried ring in Leila's face. Lonely, that was the word she had been pondering. But why did she care? No.. She didn't care.

Leila plucked the ring from between Nettie's fingers and bit into it. Leila glanced strangely at her friend.

Nettie frowned. "What?!"

"What's going through that head of yours?"

"So many things..." She said, placing the empty ring box down on the bar. "I liked that sword, you know?" She really, really liked it, "But also.. Why would they be trying to kill them in public?" Outside The Grill in broad bloody daylight.

"Why would you say that?" Leila asked, raising a brow. They must be smarter than that, right?

"Because I can feel your lover boy getting all stabby out there." Nettle shrugged. "To be honest, it is a little uncomfortable. I just ate a bunch of food. Aren't you supposed to have like no stress after you eat? I'll get sick!"

Leila blushed, but at the same time looked slightly alarmed. She tried to ignore Nettle's comment about Damon. "Shouldn't we go see what's going on, then?"

"Stress? Are you trying to kill me?" Nettie demanded as Leila pulled her off the bar stool.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have ate. You should have known better." Leila shook her head and headed towards the front door. "Obviously if you're being bait, or a distraction, or whatever, you're going to have to get in on some of the action."

"Damon said I could eat!" Besides.. Without the sundae she was sure she would die of hunger. Leila didn't understand it.

* * *

"Tell your sexy Doctor, good work." Damon muttered, smirking at Alaric who had just dropped Kol at his and Stefan's feet. The Original had a dagger through his heart.

Before he was even able to blink, Alaric was thrown against the wall. Stefan made to attack Klaus, but the dagger was pulled from Kol's chest before he could even touch him.

Damon turned quickly as the back door of the Grill opened and he found Leila standing her, mouth agape. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Damon growled.

Klaus grabbed Stefan by the neck, ready to knock him out too. "I should have killed you two months ago.

"Do it!" Damon said, looking back to Klaus. "It's not going to stop Esther from killing you." Damon motioned with his hand behind his back to Leila to run.

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "What did you say about my mother?"

"You didn't know I was friends with your mummy?"

Klaus tossed Stefan onto the ground.

Damon smirked. "Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do."

Damon braced himself as Klaus readied himself to attack. Relief washed over him when Elijah showed up out of nowhere.

"Leave him! We still need them, Niklaus," Elijah said. He put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Klaus turned to Elijah, a wild fire in his eyes. "What did mother do? What did she do, Elijah?"

Elijah walked in Damon's direction. He held out his phone, Rebekah's number on the screen. "You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now."

Damon crossed his arms and frowned deeply. He found himself wondering if Leila had gone. "You told me we had until after nine."

"I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early." Elijah smirked.

* * *

Nettie leaned against the hood of the beater car and watched as Leila approached, seeming a bit short of breath. Damon and Stefan came into view behind her only a few moments later.

Leila had been adamant about sticking her nose where it shouldn't be, but Nettle hadn't been too fond of the idea. She'd just slipped away, to their car.

Damon and Stefan looked serious, like more serious than usual. "We're going for a little ride," Damon said.

Nettie shook her head. "I am not going with you." Her arms were crossed over her chest, "You promised me a sword. I don't see a sword. So I am going home. You two go."

Damon rolled his eyes and opened the door to his convertible parked behind the beater car. "Are you coming?" he asked Leila.

Leila looked to Nettie, then back to Damon. "Should I?"

"No." Damon sighed. "But you seem to do whatever the hell it is you want, anyway."

Leila frowned and climbed into the car. "Are you sure you're not coming, Nettie?" she asked out the window.

Nettie just nodded her head. She was to busy in her own head.

"Be back later," Stefan threw in before climbing into the car himself.

Nettie watched as Damon took off speeding down the road, hoping Leila would be okay.

* * *

Nettle lay on the empty bed alone, twiddling her fingers as she thought about her day. Sure she didn't get the darn sword. But she felt like it hadn't been all for nothing.

Her first instinct was normally to stick with Leila. But today she had really come out of her shell a bit. She even talked with a super dangerous original vampire.

She scratched her scalp and rolled over. She wondered about Klaus. He had the same look on his face upon hearing about his mother that she had many times when finding out there was no information on her birth parents. He was lonely just like her. Even with Leila there was something missing. Of course she would never admit that.

Why was she spending her time thinking about him? This wasn't normal for her. Maybe something was wrong with her? She didn't know. But relating to someone wasn't an everyday thing for Nettie.

She closed her eyes, waiting for Leila to get home. But she just couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

It'd been a few days since Leila had heard from Elena. She hoped everyone was okay. She'd never experienced anything like the last couple days before in her life. How could she have changed her life and Nettie's so quickly with just one decision? Had it been a bad choice? Maybe she should have never asked Nettle to help Matt.

But then, she wouldn't trade any of it away for anything... And Nettie actually seemed to be changing, for the better. She let Leila go off on her own, she interacted with people. Nettie was breaking from her cocoon.

Leila smiled at the thought, sitting at her kitchen table, waiting for Nettle to come down for lunch. She'd been a little spacey lately. Leila wondered what was on her friend's mind.

"Why are you smiling?" Nettle asked, yawning as she reached for a box of tea. She needed the caffeine this morning. She hadn't been sleeping great lately.

"Am I?" Leila picked up a spoon and looked at her upside down reflection. "Oh." Leila shook her head. "It's nothing... Make me some, would you?"

"Kay." Nettie poured boiling water into two cups and dropped red rose into them. "I keep thinking.. We are going to be done school soon. It's strange." In a way she was afraid of losing Leila. She was sure that soon her mother would kick them out. Nettie knew she wanted to sell the house.

"Yeah... Wonder what we'll do?" Leila giggled. "Maybe we could move into the Boarding house?" It wasn't hard to guess that was what Nettie had meant.

"No way. I am not moving there." Nettie scoffed. "Don't get me wrong. I enjoy your dark and broody dude but the others are awful. I would stab myself within the week." She opened the tin of cookies and shoved two into her mouth.

Leila flushed, puckering her lips. "Stop calling him my dude, Nettie." Leila snatched a cookie from the tin too.

"Well.. He is kinda your dude. You make googley eyes at him." Maybe she would run away with him and leave her behind. "It's normal right?" She asked, sort of changing the subject. "The way you look at Damon?"

"I guess... But it doesn't matter," Leila said quickly. "He's a vampire. It wouldn't work."

"Oh." Nettle said, pushing her cup away. She wasn't human.. Did that mean they couldn't stay friends after high school? Would it 'not work out?'

Nettie had been thinking about her run in with the Mikaelson's more and more these few days. She wondered if she looked at Klaus that way? She shoved another cookie into her mouth.

"Well... Who am I to talk about this stuff? I don't know enough about Vampires to say things like that. If I heard right, Elena and Stefan were going out for a while, and then things went wrong, but it wasn't really them. It might have worked... And she's human... At least I think." Leila sipped her tea.

"I think if you like him, that you should go for it." Nettie had always said guys were gross and talked her friend out of dating. She had thought it was for the best. But she hadn't really realized how it effected Leila. Nettie was the reason they were both loners.

Leila raised her eyebrows. "Really?... Well, I don't know. I don't think he even knows I'm there half the time. He's really moody... I think he's have problems with someone else. He seems to have a one-track mind most of the time." Leila laughed a bit unenthusiastically. "I don't know if I need that in my life right now, as much as I think that he's something... special."

"I don't get it." Nettie said, pondering Damon. "They say they want to kill Klaus because he is a bad guy. But Damon has killed a lot of people. And from Elena told us about Stefan he had to." It didn't seem fair.

Leila jabbed her half-eaten cookie in Nettle's direction. "Anyway! I have been meaning to ask you about that! Why do Elijah and Klaus seem so infatuated with you?"

"Are they?" She perked up. "Elena said something about them needing me for something. I'm sure that's all that it is." Nettle finished off the last cookie and wiped her jeans clean.

"You don't seem worried about that." Leila watched as Nettie stood up. "Shouldn't you be?"

"No.. I mean. You will probably go off to college soon right? And I won't. I can't imagine the immense boredom I would have to endure if I went too.. At least this way I have a chance to find out who I really am." She shrugged.

"By going with Klaus and Elijah?" Leila shook her head. "Nettie... I don't understand what is going on with Elena and the gang and the Originals... I don't really know who's the bad guys and who the good guys are, but be careful."

"No one is really a good guy Lei. If they are all killers then they are all killers." There was no other way to look at it. "But I never said I would go with anybody. I am my own person, you of all people should know that. I am not so sure they would be able to handle me. They all think I am bonkers." Clarity was something Nettie only had around Leila.

Leila giggled. "Well, at least everyone can agree on that. You are a little crazy, Nettie."

She sighed to herself. It wasn't as if she could change that part of herself. She was driven sometimes. There wasn't anything she could do to stop it. "What are we doing today?" She asked Leila.

"Well, I want to check on everyone... I figured we'd have heard from Elena by now. I'm worrying and I'm a bit curious. I don't like sitting around in the dark." Leila finished her cookie, took the last sip of her tea and stood up as well.


	5. Chapter 5

**This story is going to be very special! Co-Written with Realm1993. We will both have our own OC. Mine will be Nettie/Nettle and Realm1993 will be writing for her OC Leila! This is one hundred percent 50/50. Please review and let us know just what you think!**

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

Leila grabbed the knocker on the large, wooden door of the Salvatore Boarding House, Nettie by her side. Upon arriving, they hadn't seen Elena's SUV or Stefan's Coupe. Leila did notice, however, Damon's car parked a little to the side of the large home.

"Elena's not here... Maybe we shouldn't bother Damon." Leila let go of the metal bar.

Nettie narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "We just drove all the way out here. Screw bothering Damon." Nettie grabbed the knocker herself and banged it loudly against the wood door. "C'mon! Dark and broody! Open up!"

"Nettie!"

A few moments later the door swung wide open. Damon was glaring at the sisters, a glass of bourbon in his one hand. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh look, dark and broody." Nettle said, smirking up at Damon. "What's wrong this time?" She pushed past him, into the boarding house.

Damon turned so he only took up half the doorframe. He looked over at Leila. "What? You're just going to stand there?"

Leila flushed and walked inside after Nettle. Damon closed the door behind her. "Again... What are you two doing here? Elena's in Denver." His tone was venomous when he said, Elena.

"Denver? As in Denver, Colorado?" Leila asked, turning to look at him for clarification.

"Clearly we are here to hang out with you." Nettie deadpanned. "You promised me something?" She held her hands out to him, waiting.

"You really are something." Damon walked over to the sword and took it off it's mount on the wall. "You want it? Here. Have fun." He placed it in Nettle's hands. "Just don't break anything with it."

"Are you kidding? I am going to break so many things with this!" She exclaimed, holding the weapon out in front of her. Or maybe she would keep it under the bed. She had other shiny things under there. "Thanks Broody"

"Break something and I'm taking it back." Damon took a shot of his liquor.

"Try to take it. I dare you." She narrowed her eyes at him as she held the sword out in front of him. "Ooh I like it." She said, watching as it glimmered in the daylight from the open window nearby. "Shiny."

"That's why you agreed to come with me? For the sword?" Leila's shoulders drooped. "I should have known."

"Der. I was promised the sword Lei. I'm no push over. You should have seen what I planned to do if he wouldn't give it to me." She scoffed, plunking down with her new favorite toy.

"What could you do? Heal me to death?" Damon smirked, crossing his arms over his chest in superiority. "I'm so scared."

"Damon... Nettie doesn't just heal." Leila warned him. "Maybe it would be best not to provoke each other. Instead we can talk a bit about what is happening with the others."

Damon walked over to the fireplace and leaned on the mantle. "What is there to talk about? Elena's in Denver, fetching her little brother. Stefan accompanied her. End of story."

"Boring story." Nettie said, looking up from her new toy. "Lei?" She said, trying to knock Leila out of whatever daze she was in.

"What is it Nettie? If it's about the sword, Mom would kill you if you played with it in the house."

"Pfft, I would be the one with the sword Lei. C'mon." She looked down at it again.

"Did you really both come here to bramble on and on?" Damon turned to look out the window.

Leila shook her head. "I'm going to get a drink." She left the room.

"Your not very smart are you?" Nettle looked up from the shiny thing, to Damon.

"What was that? If I were you, I'd not say something like that to me again. I'm not in the mood." He took another shot of bourbon, finishing his glass.

"When are you in the mood? You really are Dark and Broody Damon." She muttered. "It's Elena isn't it?" She asked him.

Damon's eyes went icy for just a moment. "I need another drink." He walked over to a little, round table with the bottle of bourbon placed in the middle.

"She likes someone else." She said matter of factly. "So why are you brooding? Move on." She shrugged. She hadn't been in love before. When she thought about it she felt funny. But she didn't understand why people insisted on loving someone who didn't feel the same way.

Damon poured himself another glass. It probably wasn't just the second one he'd had that day. "I'm not about to talk to you about feelings." Damon shook his head. "I'm a vampire. I can turn them off."

"So find someone else to love." Why did it have to be so damn hard? "The world is vast Damon."

"Answer me this." Damon turned to look at her, raising his brows and pointing a finger in her direction with the hand he was holding his glass. "Why do you think you know so much about love?"

"I don't." She shrugged again, "But if I was in love with someone I would want them to love me back. If they didn't then why would I dwell on it? What would that accomplish Damon? Other than sadness?"

Damon didn't answer her. He chugged down some more of his drink and slammed the glass down on the table. "I don't get sad."

"Okay, so get angry then. C'mon Damon. Do something and get over her. Honestly what else is there?" She didn't care what he did. She just didn't want to hear his broody crap anymore. "Look. I get it. Big bad Damon. Killer, play boy. Those things make you feel better don't they?"

"You want me to do those things?" Damon ran his hand down his face. "Then I will."

"Good. Do them Damon." She smiled at him. She meant it to. She wanted him to feel happy.

Leila came back with a glass of water in her hands. She looked to Nettie, who seemed to be glowing, as if she were proud of something she'd said or done. Nettie always got that look when something seemed to be going her way.

She looked to Damon. He seemed a bit tense... And a bit drunk.

"Why did it take you so long? You realize I had to talk to Damon for like EVER don't you? Gross." Nettie got up with her shiny thing. "Can I go? This is super boring?" She asked Leila.

"I, uh..."

"Awesome. See ya."

Leila half-frowned as Nettie walked by her.

"Your friend is a real piece of work you know that? No filter." Damon told Leila. He placed his glass down on the table nearby.

"She's something special, all right." Leila smiled, taking a small sip of her iced water. "Why? Did she say something? Break something with that sword? I wouldn't put it past her."

"She said plenty. The sad thing is she is probably right." He had to drop his feeling for Elena sometime. Sooner then later. Or else he would end up like his brother. "You're still here." He said, looking down at her. Why was she still here?

"Uh..." Leila lifted her glass, as if indicating it. She wasn't too sure how to answer that. Why was she still there? She should have left with Nettie.

"Whatever. Look, I am just going to stay here and wallow in self pity. No fun for anyone. You should take off."

"We didn't come here looking for fun, Damon." Leila decided to sit down to finish her drink, at least.

* * *

It seemed like forever for Damon as he sat there, not entertaining the small girl next to him. He couldn't help but be upset about Elena. After all he had done how could she just turn him away like she did?

"Nettie?" Leila said, sitting up as her friend strolled in through the front door without knocking. "What is going on?"

"I had a little accident." She said, holding the sword in one hand as it swung back and forth, dripping blood on the carpet. "Seriously though! Not my fault. She ran right at me!"

Damon watched as the red blood dripped onto the rug. He sighed, "What happened?" He asked her, getting up. Finally something good was happening.

"Explain yourself!" Leila demanded. Nettie had never killed anyone before. This was WAY out of character.

"Well C'mon! She was running at me all, 'Oh you smell good. What are you?' And it just sorta happened." She shrugged as she spoke. "She got my sword all icky! Damon, you never told us vampire's get all dusty when they die.."

"You're worried about your sword?!" Leila stood up. "It may have been a vampire, but you still just..." Leila was speechless.

"Probably someone Klaus compelled to track her. Or just a random vampire." Damon shrugged a shoulder, smirking.

"I'm over it already Lei. I mean, she was probably ancient right? She lived a long life." Nettie didn't really feel bad about it. It was actually kind of fun, although she wasn't going to say that out loud. She didn't want to get yelled at. "She had red hair. Kinda tall." She dropped the sword onto the carpet, splattering blood as she held her hand up to show the height of the strange vampire. "She wore this on her neck. I liked it, so I took it." She held up a small dangly gold and silver gemstone hanging from a long chain.

"Wait! That's Sage's necklace! You killed her?" Damon seemed genuinely surprised. "Give it to me." Damon held his hand out for the piece of jewelry.

"You knew that vampire?" Leila asked. Her lips were pulled into a tight frown.

"I've known her since 1912. She was older then Stefan and I, how could you kill her?" He moved towards her, grabbing for the necklace. He was fast but it seemed Nettie was faster. Her hand shot up, light flying from it.

Damon flew back through the air as the magic enveloped him. Smacking onto the edge of the fireplace he lay still. He wasn't so sure what just happened.

"No touchy. Mine." She said, looking down at the shiny green stone.

Leila gasped, eyes wide, hands over her mouth. "Nettie!" Her voice was muffled. "How did you do that?" Leila put her hands down. She had only ever seen Nettie heal.

"He tried to take my green thing!" She said stubbornly. She had only done what felt right in the moment.

"God! Dammit, woman!" Damon groaned as he tried to sit up.

Leila looked between the two. "...Why do I feel like this is going to be hell?" she muttered to herself.

Damon struggled to get up on his feet. "Give the necklace to me, Nettle. It isn't yours."

"No!" She said back. Looking up from the necklace she placed her hand in front of her. Light shone from it slowly, not hurting anyone. She looked at it a minute before she smiled wildly, "No dark and broody. I think I'll keep it."

"Nettie..." Leila frowned.

"It's mine, fair and square." Nettie told Leila, pouting.

Leila bit down on her bottom lip as all eyes fell on her. She sighed and met Damon's angry gaze. "She has a problem with collecting shiny things... And sugar. Sugar too."

"Ughhh Lei. You're making me hungry!" She said, finally putting the emerald necklace into her bag.

Damon cracked his neck and stretched slightly. "Fine keep it. But when Finn comes to find her and instead finds you with her necklace, you explain what went down. See how well you fair against an Original." Damon walked across the room and grabbed the whole bottle of Bourbon. "I'm going to the Grill." He took a swallow of his liquor as he walked towards the front door.

Leila sighed, "C'mon, lets go home."

* * *

Elena and Jeremy got home the next day, meeting up with the two girls back at the boarding house. Damon explained to Stefan and Elena just what Nettie had set in motion.

"So she killed Sage?" Stefan asked Damon. "And you are worried that Finn is going to come looking?"

"Last I saw, Finn only cared about what his mother was up to. I doubt he will care." Elena told them. Nettle sat there, swinging her feet back and forth. Leila listened in intently so that if she had to protect her friend, she would know just how to do it.

"Sage cares about Finn and no one else... He could feel the same." Damon frowned.

"I think you mean, 'Cared'" Nettle told him, "Cause I killed her."

"Well, we can't just take a chance and assume Finn's not going to care. It'd put Nettie in danger." Leila shook her head wildly. "We have to protect her somehow."

"She puts herself in danger!" Damon snapped. "We have more important things to worry about then this.. Thing!"

"Thing?!" Leila glared daggers at Damon. "This 'Thing' kicked your ass yesterday! You need her Damon. You all need her." She reminded him. Why did he always have to act so mean?

"Yah, you need me broody." Nettie said to him, smirking.

"It isn't about needing her." Elena reminded everyone. "Nettie, we could use your help. But we can offer you something in return. We can try to help figure out what you are." Her and Stefan had discussed it during their little road trip. Both choosing to help Nettie.

Leila nodded her head. "We appreciate that." She looked back at Damon, her eyes narrowed almost to slits before she looked to Nettie. "But, really, what you want us to do about Finn is up to you."

"Okay, I have an idea." Elena said. "Leila knows Nettle. Damon, take her to speak with Klaus about what happened to Sage. Maybe he and Elijah will help us control this situation." She suggested.

"They do need her... Maybe it would help." Leila nodded. "But you really want him to take me? Damon's in an attitude."

Damon tilted his head as he looked at Leila with one of those fake, plastered on smiles. "Suck it up, Leila. You heard the girl. Elena's the one who makes all the decisions around here. Looks like we're stopping by the Mikaelson's."

* * *

Damon pulled up to the Mikaelson mansion, Leila in the seat beside him. He groaned as he killed the engine. The trip had been kind of silent. He imagined Leila could just feel the mood he was in. It was radiating off of him, he knew. It always did no matter how much he tried to hide it.

He needed to get his mind off of Elena, the same way he got his mind off of everything that had ever bothered him.

"Ready to go?" he asked her, unbuckling.

Leila unbuckled as well. "Why do you wear a seatbelt?" She asked him, raising her brow at him, smirking softly.

"To keep suspicion from arousing. What if a cop pulls me over?" He smirked back.

"Cause you're just going to stop for an officer." Leila shook her head.

"To be fair I could just glamor anyone who pulled me over." He told her. "Really I just wear it so I don't have to heal as much if I crash."

"...Makes sense." she nodded. "Why don't you just glamor anyone who makes you upset?" Leila shook her head. "Like, whoever has you angry right now. Just compel them or whatever. I wouldn't put it past you to do it. Problem solved." Leila shrugged.

"You mean Elena?" He asked her. Something about this human made it easy to talk her. She nodded at him, waiting. "I guess I could glamor her. But I wanted her to love me without any of that. If she doesn't love me I won't force her to."

"So you're selfish enough to throw a fit in front of her, but not enough to compel her to love you?" Leila scoffed. "Wow. I feel sorry for you."

"I feel sorry for you." He shot back, "I can't imagine what it would be like surrounded by people stronger than me. What is it like? Being human?" He asked her cruelly. He knew it was mean, but he couldn't help it.

Leila measured Damon carefully. "Better than being dead, that's for sure." Leila turned in her seat to look at him directly.

"Keep telling yourself that human. But what about being alive is better?" Damon was getting bored of their conversation.

Leila didn't know how to answer him. Really, being a vampire probably had its perks. She hadn't thought too much on the subject.

"The love you feel, the sadness. For us it's more intense. Life is so much more real. We don't age, we don't have children. But we feel life in a way you never will. I wouldn't trade it for anything." He told her as he climbed out and closed the car door.

Leila stayed seated as Damon rounded the front of the convertible and started walking to the front door of the mansion. Leila growled loudly, cussing his name, and got out after him.

They made their way to the front door of the Mikaelson mansion, Damon ringing the doorbell as they stood in awkward silence.

Leila tapped her foot on the pavement under her feet. It was something she did often when she was flustered.

The door creaked open, Rebekah standing there in all her blonde glory. "Oh, it's you." She sneered at Damon, her eyes eventually falling on Leila. "What do you want Damon?"

"We want to talk to Elijah and Klaus." Leila answered before he could.

Rebekah raised her eyebrows at the red-head. "They are in the study." She stepped aside and let them into the lions den. "Have fun." She grinned, watching as they climbed the stairs.

* * *

"So you are saying the blondee thing killed Finn's girlfriend?" Elijah asked, intrigued once more with the small blonde girl.

"Yes well.. My friend hasn't ever killed anyone before.. So we weren't really sure how to go about all this." Leila said to Elijah. She felt nervous as Klaus stood behind them, smirking.

"We know that you are just as curious about Nettle as everyone else is," Damon said, not beating around the bush. "We were sort of hoping you could keep Finn away from her."

"Yes I do see." Elijah said, leaning back into the chair behind his desk. "You may not be aware of this at the moment, but our dear brother Finn is not really as sane as he once may have been." He explained. "He sides with our mother in her attempts at killing us all. This of course would mean his death as well."

"So are you saying you won't help us keep him away from her?" Leila asked.

"We can be moved to make a deal." Klaus spoke up, walking to where his brother sat. "Can we not brother?" He looked down at Elijah.

"You Mikaelsons make too many deals," Damon said. "Can't anything just be, 'sure', or 'why not?'. There's always some sort of catch." He narrowed his neon blue eyes at them.

"Your friend killed a very old vampire Miss?" Niklaus looked down at Leila, waiting for more information on Nettle's family.

"Leila Maxwell." Leila couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around the Original Vampires. She shifted uneasily in her seat.

"Yes well, Miss Maxwell. We have a certain interest in finding out just what Nettle is capable of. We need one thing, you need another. I am sure you understand." Niklaus continued his smug smirk as he watched them.

"So what exactly are you asking of us?" Leila asked. She almost regretted coming here.

"Something that could benefit us all." Elijah smiled at her. "All we ask is to help Nettie try to understand what she may be capable of." Of course it was not so easy as all that. But he needed them to agree to his plan.

"...Fine." Damon said suddenly.

Leila looked to Damon quickly. "Why are you making the decision? She's my sister. You don't have any say in what goes on in her life."

"She'd be safer this way. That's what you want, isn't it?"

Leila fell silent. He was right.

"So we are in agreement then?" Klaus asked, watching Leila.

She tapped her toe on the linoleum. "Yeah. It's a deal."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"I cannot believe we weren't friends sooner." Caroline said, watching Leila from across the grill's small table. "Honestly!"

"I'm so glad Elena introduced us." Leila giggled, taking a bit of her French fries. "Oh! I meant to ask... And I hope it isn't going to sound too pushy... But I saw you crying a while back... I hope everything is okay." Leila shook her head. "Really, I know it's a little late. But I'm sorry that whatever happened, happened. I only wish I was able to say that to you sooner."

"My father passed." She sighed. "But let's not talk about that now."

Bonnie watched the small blond from across the table. Elena had told her what was going on and now Bonnie was curious. She hoped she might have some sort of insight. But no luck thus far.

"She keeps glaring at me." Nettie whispered to Leila. "Do I have something in my teeth?" She bared her pearly whites at her friend.

Leila shook her head. "No." She shrugged, looking to Bonnie.

"Bonnie is a witch." Elena told Nettie. "We thought maybe she could try to help you Nettle." Elena smiled at Bonnie as she spoke. "She won't hurt you."

"It'd be great to get some answers," Leila stated.

"Bonnie has the answers to a lot of things," Caroline said on a giggle.

"Can I touch you?" Bonnie asked her, reaching out for Nettie's hand.

When Nettie gave Bonnie the okay, Bonnie took the girl's hand in her own. She closed her eyes, whispered something softly, and suddenly the world around her seemed to explode with lights, sounds, and colors. It was almost euphoric.

Bonnie and Nettie stood still, watching.

"It's beautiful," Bonnie said breathlessly as she witnessed another world. People, gorgeous beyond any, water sparkling like starlight... She'd never dreamed she'd see anything like this in her lifetime.

"What is it?" Nettie asked, wanting to run forward towards the lights.

"This is you, Nettie," Bonnie looked to the girl in front of her. She seemed to be glowing like the rest of the people.

Nettie reached out for them, but it was as if she was glued down. She wiggled, trying to escape whatever it was holding her back. "What is happening?" She asked the witch.

"We aren't really here... It's like looking through a window. You can see it, but you can't touch." Bonnie frowned. "Sorry, but it's the best I can do at the moment."

"But it's so shiny!" She turned her head to the side.

In a blink of an eye the world shifted, shimmering out of existence until all that was left was the Mystic Grill. Bonnie let go of Nettle's hands and smiled at her. "Whatever you are, it's beautiful, Nettie."

She wriggled out from the booth seat and walked out of the grill. She didn't say anything as she began to walk in the daylight.

Leila went to go after her sister. Bonnie grabbed her arm as she began to slide out of the booth. Leila looked at the witch. "Don't. She'll be fine." Bonnie said.

"But she-"

"She's fine, Leila."

Leila sat back down. "What did you guys see?"

Caroline leaned forward in her seat. "It must have been something mind-blowing for Nettie to just walk out like that..."

"I really don't know what we saw... It was beautiful, colorful, magical... It was another world, or time..." Bonnie shook her head, but closed her eyes, smiling as she thought about it. "I can tell you if that's where Nettie came from, or if her past has something to do with this place, then I have no doubt she is good."

* * *

Leila hugged herself tightly. It was beginning to get cold outside. She leaned forward in her seat on the crumbling stone wall by the Boarding House. She'd been left there while Nettie went out to do whatever it was Elijah and Klaus wanted to do with her.

She didn't move when she heard the creaking of the door.

"So Nettie just left you here?" Damon's voice came from behind her.

"Well, I wasn't about to spend a day with the Originals, if that's what you really mean." Leila zipped her hoodie up to her chin. "God, I'm so cold! I hate this time of year!" She swung her legs over the wall so she could turn to look at Damon. "Think she's okay?"

"Is anyone ever really okay with those people?" He asked her. He sighed when she looked at her feet. He actually felt a bit bad. "Look, they need her right? So if they need her I am sure she will be alright."

Leila looked up at Damon from under thick lashes. She smiled. "That actually makes me feel a bit better... Thanks, Damon." Leila looked back down at her feet and tapped her toes against the dirt. "You feeling any less broody today?" A smile crept up from under the fake, straight face she was trying to put on.

"No." He smiled back at her. "But I'm trying."

She giggled. "That's good! Gotta start somewhere."

* * *

"Thank you for accompanying us, Nettie," Elijah said as they walked through the woods. Klaus wandered behind them, giving Elijah reign over the situation.

"It'll be fun. I get to shoot at stuff right?" She said, eyes lighting up.

"You can shoot at things?" Elijah raised a brow at the girl. He only ever recalled anyone mentioning her healing capabilities.

"Shot Damon clear across the boarding house." She grinned. "He wanted Sage's necklace. Tough for him."

"Is that so?" Elijah nodded his head approvingly.

"Apparently she has other traits we were not aware of." Klaus said from behind.

They arrived in the small clearing that had been readied for her arrival. "Oh! Are those for me?" She asked excited as she walked over to two people standing like drones in the grassy field.

"In a way. We will use them as a focus for your powers." He looked at them. One a hybrid, the other a vampire. "Maybe you can show us how you shot Damon across the boarding house?" He asked her.

"Uhh.. I can try." She shrugged. She moved away from the two men and walked clear across the field. Nikalus and Elijah stood to watch. But after a few moments of random hand waves she was bummed. Nothing was happening.

"Was there something that happened to you when this happened?" Elijah asked her, joining the girl.

"Damon wanted to take my shiny thing. I didn't like how persistent he was being about it, so I blew him across the room." She shrugged. "There wasn't much thinking involved."

"Good, so you were upset?" He asked her. He could feel Niklaus sigh in boredom behind him but he shrugged it off. She nodded, "So think about Damon taking what belongs to you." He suggested.

She thought about the strange vampire outside the boarding house and the shiny necklace she had taken. If Damon had gotten his filthy hands on it she was sure she would have done worse then shoot him across the room. At the thought her hand started tingling.

She raised it, sending sparks flying towards the hybrid. He didn't fly quite as far as Damon had, but it got the job done. "Ahh! See! That one went flying." She grinned up at Elijah..

"I do see. Quite a fine job you've done already... You pick up on things quickly, it seems. This will make things much easier." Elijah gave her a nod of approval. But as he had watched her send the hybrid through the air he had truly been stumped. He had been so sure she was a witch, like his mother. But no witch, not even the original one had done anything quite like that.

After a few hours of practicing Elijah took her home. She was exhausted, yawning as she leaned against the small frame of the house. "That was fun. I liked the part where I got to kick you."

Elijah let out a tired sigh, a hint of a chuckle in the sound. "I'm glad that this was enjoyable to you. We will pick up where we left off again soon." He looked down at her as she shifted, leaning against him for support. He lifted his hand and touched her hair softly. "Your sister awaits your return." He could hear the other Maxwell talking on the phone behind the door. "I will see you soon Nettle."

* * *

Nettie sighed as she walked down the side walk, without really caring where her walk took her. She'd been practising every day for the last few days with Elijah and Klaus, and she had to admit it was a bit exhausting. She was having a good time though. She realized more and more each day that she was actually enjoying the company of people. Strange...

Nettie found herself at the cemetery across the old Wickery Bridge an hour later. She stood at the gate and looked in at all the headstones. Something about graveyards always had given Nettie a strange, but good feeling. She felt some kind of connection to something whenever she was near one. She couldn't explain it.

She walked in, running her hands along the cold stone in front of her.

She continued to just wander around. Before she knew it, night had fallen and she found herself standing in front of a very old tomb. She felt curious, which was weird, since Leila was usually the curious one. What exactly was drawing her to this place?

"Nettle, is it?"

Nettie turned on a dime. She remembered that face. "Esther."

"Yes, you do remember me then. Good... Nettle, I'm here to ask you a favor, if you would hear me out."

"A favor... Why would you ask me for a favor? I don't know you, at all." She watched the blonde woman. Her face wasn't trustworthy, Nettie could tell. She could feel it.

"Because we all want the same thing, do we not? Nettle..." Esther took a step towards the blonde. "We both want my children dead so they can no longer harm the innocent."

"Why do you assume I want them dead? They are helping me." Nettie asked, crossing the tomb so she could be closer to the exit.

"Because Finn is going to be out to get you as soon as he found out Sage is dead, is he not? Because Kol doesn't care about anything but his own fun and pleasure. You want them gone... You and your friends. I can make that happen."

"I don't have friends." She raised a brow. "And what I want I can guarantee would be different from what they would want." She sighed, realizing the woman wasn't going to leave. "If I do this will you just go away?" She could just sabotage the woman's plans and be done with it.

Esther nodded." ...Yes, Nettle. I will leave you be." Esther was beginning to see that the girl was truly.. weird.

"Fine, what?" Nettie said shortly.

"I need Elena's blood to make the ultimate weapon for destroying Original Vampires. Once this weapon is created, my children will finally be vulnerable." Esther removed a small dagger from her bag, showing it to Nettie.

"Sweet." Nettie grabbed the weapon and shoved it into her pack. "I'll see you soon." She would definitely see Esther, but the weapon wouldn't have Elena's blood. She watched the woman, waiting for her to leave.

After Esther left she remained behind. Sometimes just being alone was all she wanted. The quiet that it brought with it helped her to calm her always shifting thoughts.

* * *

Leila sat at Klaus's feet with her eyes covered by her hands. Watching Nettie learn to use her gifts was one thing. Watching her toss around innocent people was another. She loved Nettie, but she felt so sorry for the hybrids stuck being her punching bag.

"They'll be fine, Leila," Klaus told her. "They're hybrids. They heal."

"But it hurts just seeing them get shoved around." Leila cringed as Nettie used her "Light" and a hybrid was thrown back against a tree.

"You are doing well, Nettle!" Elijah congratulated the blonde. He had been finding that he was awaiting their time together as the days passed by. He was starting to feel out of his element with her and he was almost unsure how to react. "Why don't we take a small break?"

"Please!" Leila called from behind them.

Nettie frowned. "Aw, already? I was just warming up!"

"Yes. Give Niklaus's hybrids time to heal." Elijah put a hand on the small of Nettie's back and gently pushed her in the direction of his bother and Leila.

"Like he cares if I hurt them. Honestly." Nettie laughed, looking back at the quiet Niklaus. She wondered when he would begin to talk to her. She was always wondering what he was thinking.

Niklaus smiled as they approached. "You're making progress. Well-" He stopped short, turning to look over his shoulder.

"What is it?" Leila asked him.

"Finn." Elijah looked down to Nettie beside him. He worried for her safety, even though he knew she was probably more than capable of taking care of herself.

Finn stepped out from behind a tall rock. His face was twisted into a scowl, his eyes as cold as ice. "Sage." he said. "Where is she?"

"Hold on a moment brother, we have much to talk about." Elijah said, stepping in front of the small blonde.

"No! I know that tiny HUMAN killed Sage! She will answer for it. Then I will leave. No talking." He pointed at the girl hiding behind Elijah.

Leila slowly got to her feet, and Klaus moved to the front of her. When Finn's mind was set on something, there was no stopping him.

"You should get out of here, Nettie. Take Leila. Go now." Elijah said softly as he watched Finn carefully.

Nettie stepped out from behind Elijah, kicking her feet into the dirt like she was pondering her next move. "I've got this."

"Nettle..." Elijah only frowned and moved away from the girl as she looked Finn directly in the eye.

"She tried to eat me." Nettie told Finn, walking closer to the angry vampire. "I don't like the idea of being eaten, ya know?" She asked him.

Finn didn't even reply. He lunged at her with all his might, vampire teeth bared. As he lunged at her she shot her hand out, sending the original flying into the woods beyond the field.

Quickly Nettie reached into her bag, pulling out the dagger.

Finn was up on his feet more quickly than Nettle could react. He pounced on her, rolling on the ground with her beneath him.

Nettie winced as a her arms were cut from sharp branches and stones on the forest floor. She rose her arm to lunge the dagger Esther had given her into Finn's heart.

He had her by the wrist just before the tip met his skin.

Finn knocked the dagger out of her hand, sending it skittering over the dirt. Nettie wriggled, trying to escape his grasp.

"Nettie!" Leila cried out. Elijah and Klaus made to attack Finn.

Nettle glared at them. "I'll handle this myself!" She sent them flying, both in different directions before moving back for Finn.

As she moved she felt her body heat up. This had never been the case before, but it didn't stop her. Reaching him where he lay on the wet grass, she kneeled down. Reaching out she touched his face softly, then light shot from her finger tips.

What came next was a mixture of yelling and blackness. When she opened her eyes again she lay alone in the cool grass, Leila above her. "Nettie!"

"Lei?"

Leila wrapped her arms tightly around Nettie's shoulders. "Oh, I was so scared! Are you okay?!" Leila moved back a bit to look Nettie in the eyes. "Oh my god, Nettie your eyes." She said, reaching for her friends face. "Elijah!"

The two originals were not happy about the death of their brother. But at the same time they realized two other things. Nettie was powerful and they needed her more then ever. But also, Nettie was powerful and she could become a threat to them. "They are glowing." Leila said, helping Nettie up.

Elijah knelt down beside her, lifting her from the ground in a quick swoop.Niklaus standing close behind him. He took her face in his hands and examined her eyes closely. "What is this?" he asked on a breath.

"Is she all right?" Leila asked. She felt a little worry run through her.

"I imagine this has something to do with the Light." Nik said, watching with a small smirk.

"But she just.. Sucked the life out of him. That cannot be good!" Leila ran her hand up over her face in exasperation. Nettie's little surprises were starting to get to her. She found herself worrying all the time. More lately, than she ever had.

"I feel fine... Sorta," Nettle said, mostly to calm Leila down. She knew that Leila cared a lot about her. The last thing she wanted was Leila worrying for her safety.

Klaus looked to Nettie. "I think it's best you and Leila go on home now, love. I'll have one of my hybrids escort you."

Leila frowned deeply. "I think we should go over to the boarding house... I feel safer there." Leila shook her head.

"You're probably just in shock," Elijah said. "If anything, the danger to you and your sister is gone. But if that is what you wish, I'll escort you myself."

* * *

"You haven't said anything." Nettie said, watching as Leila went into the boarding house. Elijah watched Nettle as she turned to him. "I killed your brother."

"It is what it is." Elijah folded his arms over his chest. "Finn hasn't been a part of this family for a long time. Even before all of us were turned. He was always cold, always following our mother blindly." He watched her a moment, her hand rested on her pack. "I need to ask you something Nettle, and I need honesty."

"You got it Suit." She said, smiling up at him softly.

"Where did you get that dagger?" He asked.

Nettle wasn't really surprised. People wanted her shiny things so often she had a hard time keeping track. She knew it'd be brought up sooner or later. She did try to use it to kill his brother after all. "Pretty nice, right?" She asked, pulling the old dagger out of her bag.

"That dagger is very old Nettle. If my mother has been asking you for favors in order to hurt us I would hope you would be honest about it." He needed her to be.

"She followed me to the graveyard. Creepy!" She shivered, "Any ways ya, death and all that. What kind of a mother does that?" She asked him.

"My mother, apparently..." Elijah frowned deeply. "What will you do with it?"

"Well. I had thought about it.." She raised her eyes to his, "And she wants doppelgänger blood. She wouldn't leave me alone so I told her I would if she went away." She shrugged. "And she did."

"Then what is your plan? She will come for it sooner or later."

"And I'll give it to her." She shrugged. And then it'll be over. No more Esther being annoying.

Elijah measured the girl up and down. Something told him to trust her. He knew, way deep down that she wouldn't just let his mother get her hands on the one thing that could wipe him and his family out of existence. Nettle was a brilliant mind.

"Kay well.. Night Suit." She said, tapping his shoulder. Then she left him there, on the stoop as she closed the large wooden door behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Leila watched her friend sleep on the big four poster spare room bed. She had no idea that Nettie would progress like this or to this extreme. And passing out? That could not be healthy for her. And to come home and sleep for two days.. What did it mean?

"She still hasn't woken." Elena whispered to Damon as they stood in the doorway. It had been two days since the incident. "We need to do something Damon."

"Like what? We have no idea where to even begin Elena. Not everything in life is simple." They hadn't been talking much since she told him not to love her. But he was having trouble just, 'not loving her.'

"I can't believe this. All this happening. Alaric... Esther. Why do crappy things always come in threes?" Elena went on. "We are likely to never get a break."

"It's Mystic Falls. Nothing good ever happens here. You think you would have figured that out by now." Damon sighed, sounding pretty upset.

Leila looked over to the two standing in the door frame, watching her as she waited for her friend to wake up. It probably would have made most people feel uneasy, two pairs of eyes watching her so closely... But it made Leila feel safe, like she was cared for... Wait. Damon cared? She shrugged it off.. She was probably hallucinating.

She pushed herself up from the bed, "We need to do something. Any ideas?" Leila asked them hopefully.

"Well... What about the grimoires?" She asked Damon.

"No.. We have read them all already. There wasn't anything about whatever is happening here." He said back.

"There has to be something?" Leila repeated. "Anything."

"We could try the council's restricted book section at the library?" Elena asked them.

"They won't just let us in there if the books are restricted... I mean, we may be a part of the founding families, but we're not on the council." Leila shrugged one shoulder.

"You girls may not be on the council, but technically..." Damon gave them a smirk. "I am."

"Okay, good. So let's go." Leila said, grabbing her bag from the wood floor.

"Whoa, not so fast. I need to make a few calls first." Damon told her, patting her head. "One hour."

* * *

Leila walked up the steps to the library behind Damon. She was so grateful that he'd been willing to help her out. Nettie needed them. Something had to be wrong or she would have waken up by now.

"We get an hour in the cage." He explained to her, "After that I can't promise my clearance will be.. Legit."

"But I thought you said you were on the council?" She asked, beginning to get worried.

"I know someone on the council." He told her. "We are lucky Caroline Forbes has such an... Understanding mother."

"...Oh. Well, let's do this as quickly as possible, then." She hurried up the steps in front of him, opening up the door to the library and slipping inside the large building. Damon stayed close behind.

They entered, Damon using his key card to get inside the cage that sat along the back wall of the dark, old library. Then they shimmied inside. Leila had no idea where to begin. How did one go about looking up strange, unexplained power?

"So what should we look for? Things on supernatural powers? Creatures? Legends?" Leila scratched the back of her head.

"Not sure. Never done this before." He said. Not even with Elena. "Just pick one and start looking." He pulled a dusty red book from the shelf.

Leila grabbed a thick, leather-bound book and opened it up. She pulled out a chair and sat down in it. "Guess I'll start with this one," she said, running her finger over the table of contents.

Leila sighed; they had been sitting for almost half an hour in silence, finding nothing. "Leila." Damon said, tapping her shoulder. He slid the large dusty grey book under her already growing stack of books. Then he placed his finger on the chapter. "Read that."

Leila scanned the page quickly before reading aloud. "Faerie's." She whispered. "No.. They can't be real Damon. This is silly."

"Is this silly? A fairy is drawn to all things shiny. Crystal, metals, jewels. If you try to hide something shiny from a Faerie most likely they will retaliate."

"Yes but that is just silly Damon." She shook her head, holding back a small laugh. "It's the only thing we've found and we've been at this for a while now... I wouldn't just call it unimportant... It could lead us to something; maybe we should look more into this another time."

"No, look here." He said again, pointing at the book. "It says were once fallen angels. The most dangerous of angels." He ran his finger down further, "It also says they can be born that way. And if born on earth they may never learn what they really are." The page ended there. "Look. There isn't much here in the council's restricted area. But I know that people have written about Faeries. It gives us a place to start."

Leila nodded her head. As insane as it sounded, the fact that she was sitting in a library with a vampire sounded just as crazy. Maybe she shouldn't just ignore it. Maybe Damon was right. At least they had a place to start.

* * *

Elena sat in an antique, wooden chair next to the bed, where Caroline sat by the resting Nettie. Elena's face was twisted into a frown. "I'm so worried for Alaric, Caroline... I don't know what to do to help him... He's killing people."

"I know you care. I do to Elena. But we can't delude ourselves into thinking that, that man is Alaric. He would never do those things." Caroline comforted her friend as they sat watching Nettie.

"I just feel so useless." Elena sighed. She looked to Nettie, and sat straight up. Her hand had just twitched. "Caroline!"

"I saw it." The blond said, perking up. "Nettie?" She called to the small girl. Caroline thought maybe it was the bed that made her look so tiny. But she wasn't so sure.

"Nettie... Nettie, wake up." Elena got out of her seat and walked over to the side of the bed, getting on her knees by Nettle. She wondered if she should call Leila.

"Why is everyone hanging around while I am sleeping?" Nettie asked, sitting up. "Is this normal for you guys?"

Elena reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a glass of water, handing it to Nettie. Her voice sounding a bit hoarse. "You've been out for days. Here, drink this."

"Seriously?" She asked. The girls nodded to her, "I am starving!" Nettie exclaimed, swinging her feet off the edge of the bed. "There is food here right? Please tell me the answer is yes!"

"Yeah, of course... " Elena said.

Caroline put her hands on Nettie's shoulders and urged her back down onto the pillows gently. "We'll get it for you. You should probably just stay here for a little bit. Leila is on her way."

* * *

Leila scratched her ankle with her foot as Damon drove into the familiar driveway leading up to the boarding house. She looked over at him from the corner of her eye. She'd been thinking about what they'd found out at the library.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell Nettie about what we found." She said suddenly, as they got out of the car and started walking towards the house.

"What good would it do anyhow." He mumbled as she walked right back into him. He grabbed her shoulders and righted her. "Relax Red, no one is saying anything until you're ready."

Leila looked up at Damon. "I mean... We should tell her, shouldn't we? But... But something is telling me not to." Maybe waiting until they had a better idea of what she really was.. Then they would tell her. They had to be sure. Didn't they?

"Hey, you're back." Elena said, noticing the two standing really close to each other, whispering. "What's up? Something going on?" She asked them.

Leila finally noticed the closeness of her and Damon, the very few inches separating them, and took a step back. "No... Nothing." She said. "Anything new with Nettie?"

"She's awake. She was hungry and when I tried to feed her she just got upset. Said something like, 'You are trying to kill me.' Then she started destroying the kitchen." Elena told them, pointing towards the small boarding house kitchen.

They three walked in the direction of the kitchen. Leila could hear Nettie's grumbling from down the hallway. Her heart skipped a beat and she took off ahead of the others, into the room. "Nettie?" she asked.

Nettie paused a moment, looking to her sister. "No cookies!" She stammered blankly, glaring at Leila.

"What?" Leila asked her, a little weirded out by the look she was being given.

"Who doesn't have COOKIES!" She grumbled. "I'm starved, starved!" A tear fell down her cheek as she spoke to Leila. But her face stayed the same.

Leila took a deep breath and launched herself into Nettie's arms. She hugged her friend tightly. "Nettie I was so worried about you!" Cookies were the last thing on Leila's mind.

"Lei." She whispered.

Elena smiled at the sisters. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and looked to Damon. "I'll be back. I'm going to call Elijah. He seemed concerned about Nettie. He'll be happy to know she's awake." Elena walked out of the room.

"What is it Nettie?" Leila asked.

"I need to eat now." Nettie told her, "I hope you brought your keys."

Leila stepped back from the blonde and searched her hoodie pockets, pulling her key ring from one and showing it to Nettie. "Right here." Leila giggled.

"Ugh! Thank god. Let's go." Nettie grabbed the keys and made for the door.

Leila walked into the hallway, passing Damon. She stopped and turned to look at him. "Wanna come along?"

"I'm not getting near that girl when she is hungry." Damon said, "Good luck."

"Okay, then..." Leila continued to look at him a second, before turning and rushing out the door after Nettie.

Elena was standing at the car door with Nettie, who was already in the driver's seat. "Elijah said to go over to his place after you eat. He wanted to see you about something." Elena was saying to her.

* * *

Nettie walked up to the steps of the mansion, waving over her shoulder at Leila as the red-head took the car home. She walked right inside the house, leaning against the door. "I'm here!" she called.

Elijah came into view at the sound of her calling. "Nettle. Glad to see you have finally woken. How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Good, now that I've eaten. What's up Suit?" She asked him.

"Would you come with me a moment?" he asked, motioning for the steps.

Nettie nodded and followed him up to the second floor, through the hallway, and to a room with a large desk and plenty of bookcases. Elijah walked around to the other side of the desk as Nettie examined the room.

Elijah opened a drawer, pulled something out of it, then walked back around to Nettie. She had her eyes fixated on a shiny medal hanging on the wall to her right.

"Nettle?" he asked, calling for her attention.

Nettie looked at him. "Yep?"

Elijah held a small box out to her. He snapped it open, revealing a diamond-encrusted silver ring in the shape of a skull. Nettie's eye widened as she began towards Elijah. But she stopped in front of him. "Why? Why do I get the shiny thing?" She looked at him cautiously.

"It's come to my attention that your school is having a dance, and I'd like very much if you accompanied me to it."

She glared at him for a minute before speaking. "As friends." She raised her eyes to his.

"If it makes you feel better, as friends." He agreed. He was sure the girl hadn't been asked out much. Maybe taking it slow would be benefitial.

"And I get the ring?" She looked down at his hand again. "Now?"

"It's yours." Elijah smiled at her.

* * *

Leila watched as Nettie dug around in her closet. She frowned. "I don't know if I have anything that even resembles clothes from the 20's in there, Nettie."

"Well then we need to go shopping, right?" She asked, throwing a dress angrily onto the floor. They didn't wear dresses all that often so their selection was few. "Maybe Damon has something in that giant house?" She suggested.

"There might be something for you there." Leila smiled. It was a pretty good assumption.

"And you. You're going to." She said, eying the girl.

Leila shrugged. "I don't have a date, Nettie. It'd just be weird."

"You will have a date once we talk to Damon." Nettie grinned.

Leila let out a little laugh, as if the words sounded strange and foreign. "Damon? What makes you think he'd take me to the dance? He'll probably ask Elena.

"And she will say no. She doesn't love him Lei. Besides, he needs a reason to get in doesn't he?" He'd want to watch Elena. Nettie didn't always think about what she was saying before it was already said. This was one of those cases.

Leila raised her eyebrows. "I don't want to go to the dance with Damon just so he can lust over Elena."

"Well, I am going with Elijah. You think he 'just wants to be friends?' ya right." Nettie scoffed. "But he gave me this." She waved the shiny ring in Leila's face. "Who says no to that?"

"Definitely not you," Leila said matter-of-factly. "And is it really so bad that he wants to go out with you? I don't think so. It's actually kinda sweet."

"Eww. Who wants sweet?" She asked Leila, "Besides.. He isn't my type." She didn't have a type. But he wasn't it, she was sure of that. "You think Klaus will be going?" She asked, changing the topic.

"Possibly. I don't see why he wouldn't. He's always where the other Mikaelson's are." Leila eyed Nettie cautiously. "Why do you care anyways?"

"I don't care. I was just curious. Why does it matter anyways? Focus on asking Damon out. Practice." Nettie spoke quickly, trying hard to take Leila's mind off Niklaus.

"You know it'd be a lot easier if he wasn't brooding over Elena." Leila stood up, picking up the dress on the floor and tossing it on the bed. "I guess we're heading over to the boarding house then?"

"Yep, and you are driving!"

* * *

The girls stood in an empty room of the boarding house as Damon opened up a huge, walk-in closet for them. He stepped back and looked to Nettie and Leila. "Have fun, girls," he said.

"I knew it! Damon dresses up like a lady!" Nettie clapped, heading inside the dark closet.

"Um, no." He said flatly. "Clothes from my family." He grinned a cocky grin.

Leila leaned against the wall, waiting for Nettie to find something she liked. She couldn't help but think about what Nettie suggested, asking Damon out to the 20's dance... She couldn't do that! Even though it would be fun, she knew it wasn't her place to ask him.

"Leila needs a date for this shindig Broody." Nettie said, throwing a dress to Leila. "You two should go." She suggested, making blinky eyes at Damon. She really wasn't great at winking.

"No. Uh.. I mean, that's alright." Leila stammered, "Damon probably doesn't want to go anyways."

"What? You don't like me or something?" He asked, throwing his hand to his heart dramatically. "I need to go in case something happens with Alaric. So a date would help." He eyed Leila.

His wandering eyes made a blush creep up on Leila's cheeks. She turned her head, to the closet, avoiding his eyes. "Sure, I guess I could go with you." She muttered.

"Good!" He smirked, taking a drink from his bourbon. "Sounds fun."

Leila looked at the dress Nettie had tossed to her. It was a little... sparkly and fringy for her tastes. But that was the 20's... She sighed with a little smile. "I'm gonna go try this on."

* * *

Esther stepped onto the dirt path in front of the tomb she'd found Nettie at the day she'd asked for assistance with the dagger. She waited patiently for the blonde girl, who arrived just a little off-schedule.

"Nettle, glad you could make it." Esther smiled. "Do you have the doppelganger blood? And my dagger?"

Nettie took the wooden dagger from her bag. It was stained red from her blood. "Here you go." She smiled awkwardly at Esther.

Esther took the dagger from Nettie and smiled. "Good. Now all I will have to do is get my hands on that ring of Alaric's tonight." Esther's eyes met Nettle's. "I greatly appreciate the help. I hope it wasn't too much trouble getting Elena's blood."

"Are you kidding? I'm around her often enough." She lied. "No problem."

Esther nodded her head approvingly. "Enjoy the dance tonight, Nettle. Again, thank you." Esther slipped the dagger into her knee-length coat. She turned around, and disappeared into the shadows behind the old tomb.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: **

Leila pulled up into the packed high school parking lot, Nettie in the passenger's seat beside her. She cut the engine and let out a deep breath. "Why am I here?" Leila asked out loud to no one in particular as they walked towards the school entrance.

"Because I didn't want to do this alone." Nettie whispered back. She spotted Elijah waiting for her on the steps. Her nerves were not having fun tonight. "And you made me go with you to that awful dance last time. Suck it up." She stuck her tongue out at Leila before moving up towards Elijah.

Leila hugged herself against the cold, scanning the immediate area for tall, dark and broody. She let her shoulders slump when she didn't spot him.

Then jumped at a tap on her shoulder.

Leila turned to find Damon all dressed up in a suit and tie, grinning down at her. "Well, here I am all dressed up." He said, smirking down at her. "You look good enough to eat Red."

Leila didn't know if he meant that literally. "Thank you?" she shrugged a shoulder, tapping the toe of her high-heels on the pavement. Nerves... Always with the nerves.

They made their way up the front steps, and inside. Leila made eyes at Nettie as they passed the two talking. But she was on her own now. This was a date with Damon.

* * *

Nettie found herself more relaxed than she'd imagine she'd be, despite the fact that her belly was still filled with butterflies. Elijah stood with her against the wall, open to conversation.

"I'd say, you do look absolutely stunning tonight, but we are here as friends." Elijah smiled down at the beautiful girl.

"Gross." She mumbled, scratching her head. "We should go inside shouldn't we?" She asked him.

"If you wish. We'll do whatever you'd like tonight, Nettle." Elijah held his arm out for Nettle to take.

* * *

Leila stood with Damon at the snack table. She couldn't tell if he wanted to dance, or do something... She didn't know exactly what she wanted either. She knew he was here to watch out for Alaric.

"I haven't seen Elena yet. Or Stefan." Damon said, handing Leila a glass of punch. He scanned the room slowly.

Leila took a sip of the drink. "Wonder why..." She sighed loudly, looking at him from the corner of her eye, wondering if he'd noticed. She wasn't about to ask him to dance.

"They should be here by now." He picked his phone from his pocket and started punching buttons.

Leila turned her head away from Damon and rolled her eyes. She understood his concern, but what could possibly have happened? He was probably just overthinking it. "I'm sure they're fine." She took a large swallow of punch.

"Stefan says she left hours ago..." He muttered, worried about where she might be. "I have to go for a bit. But I won't be long." He told her, not looking her in the eyes. Instead he watched the doorway.

Leila frowned. She almost expected that to happen. Elena was always on Damon's mind, first and foremost.

Leila tapped her foot on the floor. "Okay." Was all she said. She didn't want to say too much and actually show how hurt she was. She really wanted to tell him off.

"Alright Red, see you." He pat her head like he seemed to do so often these days. Then he left her there.

* * *

Nettie was swaying back and forth to music in the center of the gymnasium next to Elijah. They made small talk here and there. But she had to admit she felt awkward.

"Is everything okay, Nettle?" Elijah asked her suddenly.

"Why is your brother here?" She asked him, feeling nervous as the hybrid smirked at them from across the room. "He looks like he is up to something."

"I would assume he's watching for Elena's arrival. You see, it is important she stays safe. He wants to ensure no harm comes to her." Elijah followed Nettie's gaze to his brother, eyes scanning the faces of everyone in the gym.

"Right, because of the blood thing." She muttered. "Yes..."

Elijah pursed his lips together. "I wish to speak with my brother for a moment." he said. He smiled at her. "If you will excuse me."

"Whatever." She said, turning to head towards Leila. She wasn't having fun anyways.

Elijah made his way towards Niklaus. The fact that he had been watching his date told him something was off about the night. "Brother. Is there a reason that you seem to be interrupting my date?" He asked Niklaus.

"I seem to be in need of her services tonight." He smirked, "My hybrids have been acting out. I have a few friends who need assistance."

"This can't wait until later?" Elijah was a bit skeptical.

"I am not trying to ruin your 'date', Brother." He lied in return.

Elijah narrowed his eyes ever-so-slightly. What was his brother up to? "Fine... As you wish, Niklaus." Elijah knew his brother would let no harm come to Nettie. He could tell she wasn't having too much fun at the dance, either. Maybe it was for the best if she got away from the party, if even for a little bit.

* * *

Nettle sat alone next to Niklaus as they drove towards the mansion. She wasn't so sure she should have agreed to go along. But it was to late now to turn back.

Once they arrived they made their way inside. "So. What am I needed for?" She asked him, twiddling her fingers nervously.

"I wanted to conduct my own test, if you will?" He asked Nettie, opening the white door down the dark hallway.

"You're back." The small red headed vampire whispered. She looked ill, green even.

"What is wrong with her?" Nettie asked him.

"One of my hybrids bit her. I wish to know if this is something you can.. Heal." He crossed his arms over his chest impatiently.

"Tonight? On the night of the dance?" She eyed him.

"Why not? You didn't look enthralled." He asked her skeptically.

Nettie went to give him a cocky remark, but stopped. He was right, after all. She was enjoying Elijah's company, yes, but the dance itself hadn't thrilled her the least bit.

Nettle sighed. "Okay. I'll do it," she said finally.

"Brilliant," Klaus replied with a smile.

"Eh!" she held a finger up to his face. "Don't thank me, okay?" Nettie raised an eyebrow at the vampire.

"As you wish," Klaus said, taking a few steps back.

She eyed the vampire before making her way towards her. She really looked awful. Gross even. "This is what happens when a wolf bites one of you hey?" She asked him as she glared at the red headed vampire.

"It gets much, much worse love." He told her, smirking as she leaned over the vampire.

The vampire's head rolled, and she groaned loudly, sweat dripping from her forehead. "Make it stop," she whispered softly, almost as if she was just about out of breath. She groaned loudly, clutching tight to her clothes.

"Ugh, whining." She muttered as she placed a hand above the icky bite. "You seriously have to be kidding." She cringed as she touched down on it. Closing her eyes she healed the wound.

The green in the vampire's face was already slowly fading. The look in the red-head's eyes, though, didn't change. She still looked as if her mind was lost far away, as if she were still not completely there.

"Don't touch me!" The vampire shrieked suddenly, slapping away Nettie's hand. Her nails raked Nettie's flesh.

The vampire's face went blank momentarily, as if something had just clicked in her head. Her frown up-turned to a wicked grin. "Mmmmmh..." The vampire leaned forward, closer to Nettie. "You smell... delicious." Her voice dripped venom.

The vampire lunged itself at Nettie without any warning.

Before she could think straight, Nettie was on her back. Her hair pulling from the up-doo Leila had given her. "KLAUS!" She stammered as the red headed vampire bit down on her.

"GET OFF!" She screeched, throwing the vampire back against the wall roughly. As she slid down Nettie felt something take over. Her body growing warm. But as she began to realize what she was doing she passed out. Just like the last time.

As the vampire faded away into dust, Klaus caught the small blond in his arms. As he began moving towards his room she cuddled closer to his chest. Her head lay against him and for a second he couldn't help but want to draw her that way. Asleep, and at peace.

* * *

Nettie's eyes fluttered as she began to take in the large bedroom around her. She rubbed her eyes and swung her feet over the edge of the large bed. As she looked around she saw Niklaus.

To say it shocked her would have been an understatement. But there he was, painting. She sighed, noticing the beautiful art all around them. He was some artist.

She climbed off the bed and walked around to see what he was painting. "It's me." She said, in awe of how spot on the painting was. How long had she been out for? "You are really good."

"Thanks little glow worm." He told her, placing the brush down. "I should take you back." He said, handing her, her shoes. "You'll need these love."

"Glow worm?" She asked him, raising her brow.

"Doesn't matter Nettie." He smiled at her. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yah. But I need to ask you something first." She said, staying next to where he sat. Looking down at him she gathered courage. "You like me." She said, matter of factly. "But you want to kill me don't you?" She asked him.

"For now, we need you." He told her, shocked at her words. He had thought of it. She took his brother's life like it was nothing. After one thousand years of immortality it seemed almost as if time was fleeting. "And it doesn't matter how I feel about little blonde glow worms. My brother and I have danced this dance long before any of this. It won't happen again." He told her.

* * *

They hadn't spoken much. Niklaus felt oddly for the small blond who sat in the car next to him. But his brother had dibs, so he wasn't going to push the issue. At least he didn't plan on it.

"I should get back inside, Elijah will be wondering where I went." Nettie muttered from next to him. "Thanks.. For whatever that was." She said, pushing the door open and escaping quickly towards the school.

Nettie approached the building quickly. As she neared, she noticed Elijah, Stefan, and Damon all standing on the side walk, deep frowns set in their faces.

She slowed to a stop in front of them, looking down at her feet. There was a huge circle of salt going around the school. "The hell is this?"

"Salt... It's a binding agent for a spell," Stefan explained to Nettie.

Nettie scrunched her nose, a disgusted look on her face. "What kind of spell?"

"We are trapped on this side of the line," Elijah explained to her. "We cannot leave until the spell has been broken."

"Witchy is working on a way to break the spell," Damon told Nettie.

"Erm, guys?" Nettie muttered, looking up from the salty pavement. "Why don't you just break the line?" She asked them.

"Nettie, don't you think we have tried that already?" Leila grumbled, her arms crossed over her chest. Something was clearly wrong, and it had nothing to do with any of this.

"You guys.. Honestly. Just ask me to break the line and I will, okay?" Nettie rolled her eyes.

Elijah pulled a cell phone from his breast pocket. "I'm going to call Niklaus, tell him to scout ahead for Elena's whereabouts." He walked away from the group, looking for a quieter spot to make a call to his brother.

"How long do you think it'll take for Bonnie to break the spell?" Leila asked Stefan and Damon.

"I said I could do it." Nettie huffed. Why didn't anyone ever listen to her?

"We can't even touch it. There's something blocking all of us," Damon told Nettle.

Stefan looked to the blonde and sighed. "Go ahead."

"Really, Stefan?" Damon rolled his eyes.

"What harm could it do? Go ahead Nettie. Try."

"How hard was that?" She asked herself as she made for the salt. Kicking her foot out she landed on top of it, scattering it in every direction as she moved her foot back and forth. "Doesn't seem all that hard to me guys." She said, finally moving back to look at them.

Leila's jaw was slightly dropped. "Why...?"

"Only you, Blondie," Damon said, stepping across the scattered salt, to the other side of the line.

"Seriously, witches are supposed to be able to actually do magic right?" Nettle asked curiously. Every time she encountered them it seemed too easy to get away or to break the spells cast.

Elijah returned to the group, looking a bit uneasy. "Klaus has found Elena. We must leave as soon as the spell..." He looked to Damon standing beside Nettie. He then looked down to the broken line of salt.

"The witch either doesn't know how to do this spell right or she just sucks." Nettie said, finally looking up at Elijah.

"This is strange," was all he said in reply. He hesitantly walked over the line of salt. "Well, in any case, we should be off. We have somewhere to be."

"I'll text Bonnie, tell her to meet us there," Stefan said, making his way to the parking lot.

* * *

Leila sat in silence in the passenger's seat of Damon's Camaro. She drummed her fingers on her arms, which were crossed over her chest. She was still upset with him. He'd just blown her off completely, hadn't asked her to dance once... Yeah, Elena hadn't exactly been safe, but she was fine nonetheless. Damon didn't know anything had been happening. For all he knew, she'd just been running late.

"I could call you Dark and broody tonight Red." Damon said, watching the small red headed girl next to him.

Leila glared at him. "Really, Damon?" The tone of her voice made it obvious she was very upset. His statement only made it worse. "Don't even start with me."

"Alright Red. No need to get huffy. I mean I get it, women have their days. But do I really deserve this kind of treatment." He clutched his heart dramatically.

"No need to get huffy?" Leila turned slightly in her seat to look directly at him. "Of course I'm huffy! You just abandoned me at the party! You didn't ask me to dance. You didn't even try to make it fun."

"I only went to that party with you to keep an eye on things. It wasn't a real date Red. Sorry if you thought that it was." He told her, truly feeling bad that he hadn't made it clear. He was there for Elena.

Leila's face went red. "You know, what Damon? Forget it! It's always about Elena. You don't care about anything else! Why in the world was I so foolish to even think you could be different, that Elena wasn't the only thing on your stupid, one-track mind?!" Leila held her icy glare for another moment before turning her head to glare out the window.

She could feel a lump rising in her throat, and she didn't want Damon to see her feelings getting the best of her.

"You don't even belong here Red. We already bust our asses enough for Elena. Two human's is A LOT OF HUMANS." He told her, pulling into the parking lot next to the cemetery. "All that will happen to you around us is unhappiness. And death." He pushed the car door open and climbed out, leaving her inside alone. He didn't have time for this.

* * *

Elijah took his eyes off the road for only a moment, to look at Nettie as they neared the entrance to the cemetery. He'd been wondering what had gone on that Klaus had needed his date's assistance. He couldn't help but be curious. Klaus was always up to something. Why had she been gone so long?

"So what happened? With Niklaus?" Elijah asked her, suddenly.

"He made me heal someone with a wolf bite. Some red headed vampire." She said, not thinking much about it. "Sorry it took so long. If she hadn't attacked me I may have been back sooner. But evidently when I suck the life out of one of you I can't help but swoon like a little girl." She wasn't so happy about that part.

Elijah frowned deeply. "You were attacked? Are you all right?"

"I wouldn't be sitting here if I wasn't." She shrugged. "Your brother looked out for me. He can be sorta nice sometimes can't he?" She asked him. It felt weird as she said it.. But there it was.

Elijah stifled a laugh. "Not often I hear someone saying Niklaus can be nice. It's usually the complete opposite, to be perfectly honest." Elijah pulled into the cemetery parking lot behind Damon's car, Stefan's Coupe coming up behind them.

"He wants to kill me." She said to him as they sat in the car.

Elijah furrowed his brow. "Why do you say that?"

"I killed Finn. It wasn't that hard." She shrugged, "I haven't spent that much time with you two. But I feel like one thing is clear with you and your brother.. If someone is a threat. You take that threat out." Nettie unbuckled herself and got out of Elijah's vehicle, having noticed Damon getting out of his car and Leila hadn't.

Elijah watched as the strange girl hurried over to the Camaro and knocked on the window, her friend the first thing on her mind, above everything else, even when her life was potentially being threatened.

Nettie rapped on the window. She stuck her tongue out at Leila and flipped her ears forward trying to make the girl smile. "Get out! Get out of the car Lei!" When Leila refused, Nettie pulled the car door open. "What is it? Elena is out there with Esther. We gotta go."

Leila shook her head, holding herself tightly. "Damon blew me off at the dance because he was worried about Elena..." She replied softly. "Don't get me wrong. I don't hate Elena... I just... I'm so upset right now..."

"Don't be silly." Nettie said, glaring down at Leila. "He'll get over Elena. She isn't made of chocolate Lei." As she spoke she began to grow hungry.. Now she just wanted this all over with so she could get some chocolate.

Leila nodded. She wasn't going to just forgive Damon that easily, but she'd at least go and see if Elena was okay. Elena was her friend. It wasn't her fault Damon was infatuated with her. "Okay, let's go," she said, taking Nettie's arm and leaning on her sister as they walked into the graveyard.

"There is something I should tell you." Nettie whispered to Leila.

"What's that?" Leila rose a brow.

"If you like Damon this much then I promise you will have luck on your side Lei. I can give you that much." She smiled softly as they entered the graveyard. Then things began to get real.

* * *

Jeremy was the first to come out of tomb, his eyes red, as if he'd been crying. Elena came out behind him.

Klaus had already left, taking Esther's body with him almost the moment everyone else had arrived at the tomb. He explained what had happened, what Alaric and Elena had relayed to him:

Alaric was to be transformed into the equivalent of an Original Vampire if he completed his transition. Upon awakening from his "death", he'd stabbed Esther, killing her for good. Elena and Jeremy were inside the tomb with Alaric, waiting to find out if he'd decided on following through with becoming a vampire or not.

Alaric's choice was pretty clear by the look on the Gilbert's faces.

"Elena..." Damon said softly.

Elena wiped the tears in her eyes. "He's not going to complete the transition," she told everyone softly.

Leila took a step forward, hesitating as she approached Elena. She shook her head and hurried to her friend, hugging her tight. "I'm sorry, Elena," she said.

"We missed it?" Nettie asked, kinda bummed. "I was looking forward to the dagger not working.." She muttered.

Elena looked up at Nettie through bleary eyes. "Esther mentioned the dagger... She said she needed doppelganger blood, my blood, for it to work... That wasn't my blood on the dagger and she still succeeded in making the ultimate weapon for killing Originals."

"Well she didn't.. Right?" Nettie asked Elena, worried that this was all her fault. She had Mr. Saltzman as her teacher and they had really gotten along.. "Because it was my blood. So she couldn't have used the dagger. Right Elena?" She asked.

Elena shook her head. "No, Nettie... It worked."

"I don't understand." She stammered. It shouldn't have worked.

"But..." Stefan put a hand to his chin. "You're not a doppelganger..."

"Clearly!" She snapped at Damon. "Witches make no sense! The spells they want to work DON'T and the ones that shouldn't DO!" Her head was spinning. None of this made any sense.

Damon shrugged. "Can't say I don't agree with you there." He frowned. "I'm going to go give Alaric some company... He doesn't have long. He shouldn't die alone."

Elena and Jeremy burst into another fit of tears as Damon disappeared inside the tomb. It was going to be a long night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Damon stood by the mantle, Bourbon in his hand. Elena sat on the couch, glaring at him. They hadn't exactly had a good start to the morning.

"I'm really sick of the Salvatore brooding Damon." Elena said, still hurting from the night before. "All I want is for us all to get along."

"We are getting along Elena. This is how it is now. You made it this way."

"I didn't make it this way, Damon! You're turning this into something it's not. Why do you have to fight with me and Stefan?" Elena shook her head.

"You think he is just going to come back to you? Good old Stefan and Elena?" Damon asked her angrily. "He isn't! You two are done. Over. So why are we all still waiting around to save you?"

"You're wrong, Damon! I love Stefan! And I know he still loves me too!" Elena put a hand to her chest, a huge frown on her pretty lips. "You're just jealous! Like you always are!" Elena stayed put, even as Damon stormed from the room and up the boarding house stairs. "Stupid, broody Salvatore shit!" She mumbled.

"You don't see it." Leila said from the doorway. She wasn't happy about what had happened with Damon but that didn't mean she hated him.

"See what? How long have you been standing there?" Elena asked her, relaxing back into the couch.

"Long enough..." Leila shook her head. "He isn't jealous. He really does care, Elena... He needs someone to care for him too."

"I do care about him!" She fought back. "I just don't want to date him!"

Leila ran her hand down her face. She understood what Elena meant. She couldn't understand herself why Damon didn't get it, though. Why wouldn't he just let go? What was keeping him from moving on. "I'll go talk to him," she offered.

* * *

Leila knocked on Damon's bedroom door, waiting for him to let her in. But after a few minutes she decided to force her way inside.

Leila opened the door wide. She didn't know what she was going to say that she hadn't said already. She didn't even know why she'd offered to come up and talk to him. What was there to say? The confrontation would probably just lead to more arguing between herself and Damon anyway.

"What are you doing in my room?" Damon grumbled from where he sat on his bed. He held his glass as if it were a shield.

"I told Elena I'd talk to you," she said, honestly. "Though I don't know the point of it, except it made her feel better to know I would." Leila took another step into his room. She hadn't been in there before. She couldn't help but be a bit curious. Ever the observer. She wanted to see exactly how Damon kept his room. Nice and tidy? Messy? She glanced around, trying not to be obvious of her snooping. She wasn't exactly in the mood to argue anyway. Better to distract herself.

"Well, tell Elena you talked to me and go away." He motioned for the doorway. "Besides, we aren't speaking, remember?" He asked her coldly. He wasn't sure why he cared about it, but apparently he did. They had spent a little time together lately and Leila had listened to his rants. She was patient with him.

Leila rolled her eyes, huffing loudly. "Have you ever been pleasant to be around?" She shook her head. "Because the way you've been acting ever since I've met you, you've barely said but a few nice things."

"I'm not a NICE person Leila. No one lied to you about it. This is me, I am Damon." The life ruiner. Always in the way. At least he felt that way most days.

Leila saw that clearly. No one had ever told her that Damon was a nice person. She just saw something in him, though, something that seemed pleasant. Whatever that was, he needed to tap into it and get over whatever it was making him an ass. "No. No one did lie to me, Damon. I just thought you could be happy... Guess I was wrong. You just like making yourself upset."

"Yes, I just love it." He muttered to himself.

Leila narrowed her eyes at him, scoffing. "So tell me, I'm so curious... What do you usually do to get over yourself? I mean, you have to be somewhat bearable part of the time for you to have so many friends." She was almost instigating him now. Something was making her want to hear the worst he could say.

"I kill people. I bring home tons of women. Blondes mostly. And I do whatever I want!" He snapped. "The people around here don't care about me. They keep me around to pick up my messes. They look out for Stefan, no one else."

"You bring home women? You compel them?" Leila shook her head. "No wonder they just look out for your brother. You need to grow up, Damon!"

Damon shot up at vampire speed, stopping right in front of Leila. She took a deep breath at his sudden closeness, inhaling the smell of Bourbon, the smell of him. "You want me to compel you, don't you? It would be so easy." He whispered, touching the side of her face lightly. "Leila, you want me to kiss you, don't you?" He asked her as he stared into her eyes, his pupils dilating.

"Yes, please." She muttered, unable to say no.

Damon reached down and kissed her softly, moving away just as quickly. But as he looked down at her he lost his focus. His glamor fell away. It was clear she was pissed.

Leila's face was red, her heartbeat pounding rapidly. He'd kissed her? "The hell was that about?!" she snapped at him. "You compelled me?!" She rose her hand to her lips and then to cover her face. "Really?" she stammered. She couldn't be more embarrassed, and more ticked off.

"I'm sorry." He said, baffled that the words even happened to come from him.

"Don't do that to me Damon. Not if you don't mean it. I'm not one of your.. Girls." Leila whispered, still holding herself back from hitting him. "Elena was right not to choose you."

Damon knew he had been wrong almost immediately after what he had done to her. But that was who he was. All he had to do was keep reminding himself of that fact and he could go back to being himself again.

* * *

Leila slammed the front door behind her, slipping her keys into her pants pockets as she stopped in the living room only long enough to take off her coat and hang it up. Nettie was sitting on the couch, looking at her sword.

"You home already, Lei? Thought you were going to check in on Elena?" Nettle asked.

Leila didn't even answer her friend. She hurried up the stairs, feet pounding loudly on the wood the whole way up. Nettie frowned. What the hell had happened while she was at the Boarding House?

Nettie looked at her sword and sighed, putting in on the cushions. "I'll be back for you in a minute, shiny." She patted the thing, shoving it under the couch, then hurried up the stairs after her sister.

She found the door cracked open just a bit, and she opened it wide and looked in at Leila curled up on the bed, face in her arms folded on her knees.

"Leila, what happened?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Leila told her, voice muffled.

"Lei." Nettie pressed.

"No, Nettie!" Leila grabbed a pillow and put it over her head. She didn't want Nettie to see her this upset over Damon. She'd been humiliated enough for one day.

"Seriously? You think I would judge anything that happened to you?" Nettie pressed Leila for information, "I always have to tell you. Come on woman!"

Nettie pushed the pillow away from her face, and raised her head only high enough that her eyes peeked through. She looked upset and tired.

"You can tell me Lei." Nettie sat down on the bed next to Leila. "I won't make fun, I promise."

Leila sat up, then leaned her head against Nettle's shoulder. "It's Damon," she said softly, almost on a whisper. "He... He... compelled me." Her face started to heat up and she could feel the humiliation kicking in.

"He what?" Nettie asked angrily. "He wants me to murder him doesn't he?" She clenched her hands into balls.

"Don't do anything to hurt him, Nettie..." Leila asked of her, giving her friend wide eyes. "Please."

"Well why not? I promised not to make fun. I'm not making fun. I'm making angry." She would kill him.

"Because... As much as I hate to admit it... He only gave me what I really wanted... I mean... I didn't really want it... Not like that, anyway..." Leila sighed. She was rambling. She shut her mouth tight. Nothing that she was saying was coming out right.

"What did he make you do?" Nettle asked, raising a brow worriedly.

Leila started digging her toes into the covers under her feet. "...Kiss him..." she said softly. She barely heard herself say it.

"Oh." Nettie whispered, but wasn't that a good thing? "Well... Maybe I shouldn't kill him. But I could still zap him a little for good measure?" She asked curiously. She hoped Leila would approve.

Leila looked at Nettie for a moment, while she contemplated the offer. She let out a little giggle. "Yeah. You should do that."

"Really, I can?" Nettie felt the excitement well up inside her. "You never let me! But.. Maybe this time?" She asked again, making sure.

"He deserves it. He shouldn't have compelled me like those play things of his." Leila shook her head. "But this doesn't mean I'm not mad at him!"

Before Nettie could answer her, Leila's cell phone rang. Leila picked up after looking at the caller ID. "Caroline?" she asked.

"Oh my god, Leila!" Caroline sounded panicked.

"Caroline, what is it?" Leila put the phone on speaker mode, so Nettie could hear.

"Alaric isn't dead... Well he is, but he's a vampire."

Leila looked to Nettie, eyebrows raised. "Oh... Is that bad?"

"Did I forget to mention he tried to stake Rebekah and I?"

"Oooh super evil Alaric." Nettie muttered.

"Well, I'm leaving the school now. I gotta tell Elena and Stefan."

"We'll meet you there, okay, Caroline?" Leila said.

Caroline didn't answer.

Nettie frowned. "Helloooo? Caroline!" The girls exchanged looks.

"What if Alaric caught her, Nettie?" Leila couldn't help but worry. "I'll go get Stefan. You go to the school and scope things out."

* * *

"Where are you guys?" Leila asked, holding her cell phone to her ear as she drove Nettie to the high school. She knew Alaric was bad news, but she wasn't worried about her sister's safety one bit. If anyone knew how to take care of herself, it was Nettie.

"Elena's," Stefan replied on the other line.

"Well, keep her there. Nettie's going to see if Caroline's okay... I mean, it could just be a false alarm."

"It's never just a false alarm," Damon said in the background.

Leila frowned at the sound of his voice. "I'll be there in ten minutes." She hung up and looked to Nettie. "You'll be safe?"

"Nothing but." Nettie told her, smiling softly. "If I can take on an original then I should be able to handle this."

Leila nodded and stopped the car in front of the high school. "Call to keep us updated."

* * *

Nettie walked into the school, eyes searching the area for any sign of Alaric or Caroline. The hallways of the school felt very ominous without any students occupying them. "Caroline?!"

There was no answer.

"Caroline, you here?!" Dammit. She had come all this way for nothing!

Suddenly, someone grabbed Nettie's arm. "Shhh! He'll hear you!" Elena hissed from behind.

"Eww! No touchy." Nettle said, focusing on where Elena had touched her instead of on what she had been protecting Nettie from. Nettie wasn't into touching.

"Alaric's got Caroline," Elena told her, letting go of the girl's arm. "He's hurting her! We have to find them and get Caroline out of here."

"Oh my god! Elena no kidding." Nettie rolled her eyes. She had left before Elena had shown up for this reason. She didn't really need the annoying doppelganger. But the girl seemed unable to stay away. Nettie sometimes was reminded of Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Always around getting hurt.

Elena ignored Nettie's comment. She was getting used to the strange girl's way with words. Elena hurried off in the direction of Alaric's old classroom. Nettie followed behind grumbling as she followed the small brown haired girl.

* * *

Leila pulled up to the Gilbert house and got out of the beater car. She approached the door and took a breath before knocking. Damon was there. She didn't really feel like dealing with Damon drama at the moment.

Damon answered the door.

It would be him, she couldn't help but think.

"Hey, Red." Damon stepped aside as she brushed past him, into the Gilbert's living room. Stefan and Jeremy were sitting on the couch. "Hello Damon. Nice to see you. You look very handsome tonight." Damon muttered, pretending to be Leila.

"Okay, so I dropped Nettie off at the school... As long as Elena's here, everything should be fine." Leila looked peered into the kitchen from where she stood. "Did you guys like lock her up in her room or something?" she asked.

"No, she said she was going to grab something a few minutes ago," Jeremy replied. "Guess she got sidetracked."

A knocking came to the door, and Leila looked over her shoulder at it.

"I'll get it... Again," Damon said. He opened the door and sighed. "Klaus."

Jeremy walked up to Damon and glared out the door at the Original. "What the hell do you want?"

"Now, is that any way to treat a guest?" Klaus rose his eyebrows.

Stefan walked to the door, too. Leila decided it best if she just sat down.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Stefan asked, a little more politely than the other guys had greeted the man.

"Well, for starters, young Jeremy here could show some manners and invite me inside."

Stefan put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Why don't you go up to your room?"

Damon looked down at Jeremy when he didn't budge. "Now."

Jeremy growled and walked up the stairs. Leila saw him roll his eyes as he left for his bedroom.

"Hmmm, poor lad. Looses one questionable father figure only to be replaced by the likes of you two."

Damon shrugged. "Yeah, about that. Something happened."

"You're going to tell him?" Leila asked.

Klaus shook his head. "Oh, I know all about my mother's invulnerable, little creation, and that's why I'm here. I'm leaving town, just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flash light... Doppelgänger."

"Can't help you there!" Damon said and slammed the door in Klaus's face. Damon walked over to stand behind the couch and Stefan made for the stairs.

"Elena!" Stefan called.

* * *

The two girls skirted the hallway carefully, Elena leaning into the classrooms one by one. "There." She whispered as Caroline's strangled scream broke out from Alaric's class across the hall. "She's hurt!"

"She's a vampire Elena. She will heal." Nettie muttered grumpily. Who made queen Elena in charge?

Elena took a breath as she approached Alaric's classroom and opened the door. The vampire sat in the chair that use to be his, his feet propped up on the desktop.

"Right on time," Alaric said.

"Caroline!" Elena cried, hurrying over to her friend. Poor Caroline was tied to the chair, a cloth doused in Vervain in her mouth and pencils pinning her hands down to the table. "Alaric, let her go!"

"Do it yourself." He said back, smirking widely. "Go on then."

Nettle leaned against the old wooden door frame and watched as Elena moved towards Caroline. The brunette gave Caroline a reassuring smile, touching her gently before pulling one of the pencils out of the blonde's hand.

Alaric crossed the room in a blink of an eye and slammed the pencil back down into Caroline's hand.

Caroline screamed loudly.

"You said you'd let her go!" Elena scowled at Alaric.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? Stop trusting vampires!"

Nettie stood straight and took a step into the classroom. It made her upset to see a person she'd actually liked turned into a monster like this.

"What is this Mr. Saltzman? Is this really worth any of this?" Nettie asked him. She focused only on the desk and not at Caroline.

"The world needs to be rid of Vampires. All they do is cause pain and suffering." Alaric looked from Nettie to Elena. "You always say you don't want innocent people hurt, Elena. What do you think the vampires are doing?"

"Innocent people get hurt everyday. You can't change it." Nettle tried to pull his attention from Elena.

Alaric sighed, narrowing his eyes at Nettie. "You think you can actually fight me about this, Nettle? I was created to destroy Original Vampires. Don't underestimate me... I'd hate to see my favourite student hurt." He laughed.

"You can't save everyone. Even if you kill them all, more will die. What would that accomplish?" She asked again. "There is more in this world then vampires Rick, we both know that. So you kill the vampires. What about the rest?"

Alaric growled, his eyes turning red and veins popping up over his cheekbones. He pounced at Nettie, Elena and Caroline screaming behind him.

Alaric pushed Nettie to the hard floor and pinned her down by the shoulders. Just as Nettie was about to kick him in the gut, Elena took a step in their direction. "Nettie, don't kill him!" she begged.

"She can't kill me Elena. But you should know that." He growled, rolling Nettie up against the door frame.

Nettie felt the ball of light forming in her left hand as she struggled to get free. If she could just hit him with it, she could drop him. "It's alright Elena. It's not him any more."

Elena shook her head furiously. "No, Nettie! If you kill him, you'll die too!"

"I'm tied to you, Elena not Nettie. But it doesn't matter. She couldn't kill me any ways." He smiled, throwing Nettie across the room, into a bookshelf. The shelf crashed down on top of her as she fell unconscious. Alaric's smile faded as a drop of blood fell from his nose. He lifted his hand to wipe it away, watching the pile of books for a moment. "It's not possible. She isn't a doppelgänger."

"That wasn't my blood on the dagger, Alaric... It was Nettie's. If you kill her, you'll kill yourself too." Elena pulled the pencil from Caroline's hand again, chucking it across the room.

"What is she?" He asked them, still in shock as he blocked the open doorway.

Elena shook her head. "We don't know, but we know she isn't like us... She's stronger than you could ever imagine, Rick."

Caroline pulled the Vervaine-dampened cloth from her lips, shaking as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She looked to Nettie, frowning. "Is she alright?" She jumped up and started pulling books off the small blond girl. "Nettie?" She called out, finally finding the small thing bleeding under the broken shelf.

"Let us go!" Elena's bottom lip trembled as she stepped between Alaric and her two friends. She had to figure a way out of this mess. This was all her fault after all... Her friends always got the bad end of things that weren't even really anyone's problem but Elena's. It wasn't fair. Elena couldn't let it continue.

Alaric pointed to Caroline. "She's a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it. Now how is that right? Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all." He started talking but all he could think about was the smell leaking up from the broken shelf.

Elena shook her head, noticing the slightest look of distraction crossing Alaric's face briefly. "You don't know anything about them."

"Why? Am I wrong? Do you think they'd actually be proud of you? If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them."

There it was again... Something was holding Alaric's attention. Elena bit her lip. She had no clue what was going on, but she could tell it was something helpful.

"Nettie..." Caroline looked at her friend. "...Gosh, her blood..."

Elena looked to her friends over her shoulder. "Caroline?"

Caroline was at the far end of the room in seconds. "It's almost intoxicating," she said to Elena. "You need to get her out of here Elena." She said, holding herself where she stood. It was tough, even Caroline found it hard to resist the small blond.

Alaric darted for Nettie, pulling her unconscious body up from the floor. It took seconds for him to bite into her like a rabid dog. He grunted loudly as his mind grew clouded with hunger.

"Nettie!" Caroline yelled, eyeing Elena again. She feared that if she grew closer she would fall victim to Nettie as well. "You can't kill her Alaric! You will die!"

Elena gasped as a figure came into the room so quickly, she could barely see it. The desk nearest the door splintered into huge pieces as Klaus grabbed a couple. He tossed them with all his might in Alaric's direction, like ninja stars.

Alaric dodged them, but just barely, one nicking his shoulder.

In moments, Klaus stood over Alaric, a flask of Vervaine in his hand. He smashed it over the vampire's head, and Alaric jumped away, screaming.

"Let's get out of here," Klaus whispered to the girl quickly, scooping Nettie up off the floor. They were up and out of the building in moments as he stopped in the woods nearby. He felt his feet touch down as he pulled Nettie's limp body from his. Panic rushed through him as he saw the large tear in her neck. Most people would be dead by now. "Nettle?" He whispered, "You must drink."

She can't die.

Klaus tore open his wrist and dropped blood into Nettie's mouth, watching as she coughed it down. But after a moment her eyes opened, her wound knitting together. But her eyes hadn't changed to their usual odd colors. Instead they were white, staring up at him. "Nettle?" He asked, trying to make sure she wasn't in another little trance. But as he spoke two small sharp teeth punctured his wrist. That unlike any he had seen before. Close together, and at the front of her mouth.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

After a few minutes Nettie came to, her mouth around something soft. She pulled away quickly and wiped her mouth, realizing it was Klaus that had saved her. "Eww!" She stammered, spitting into the dirt dramatically. "Gross, gross."

"Are we done here love? I really do have more pressing things to attend to." He said, trying hard to push his curiosity to the back of his mind. Right now he needed to focus on getting Elena and skipping town. He didn't need to be worrying about Nettie. That was his brother's job.

"What the hell happened?" Nettie asked, examining the blood on the back of her hand.

"We'll save that story for another time. I must be off now." Klaus told her, finding the words hard to find. But he made himself go at vampire speed, back towards the school. He left Nettie behind, in the woods; safe. At least he would know she had that.

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't know where she is?" Damon barked at Caroline. "I thought you said Klaus stepped in?"

"Elena was with me one minute, and the next she was gone." Caroline covered her face in her hands. She was so tired, all she wanted was to help her friends and leave town with Tyler. But it all went so horribly wrong. Now Nettie and Elena were gone.

"What? You guys are still in here! I thought you would be running by now." Nettle said, walking back into the classroom. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on me?" She glared down at her outfit.

"Elena's missing," Stefan said, trying to maintain his cool and calm demeanor, but failing horribly. His loved one was gone, and no one even knew where to start looking for her.

"Klaus took her, obviously." Nettie deadpanned. "He said he had important things to do, places to be bla, bla, bla. I assume he meant Elena."

"What would he want to do with... Oh..." Damon frowned deeply. "I bet you anything he's planning to skip town, get away from Alaric."

Nettie felt a small pang deep down at the news, but she shrugged it off. She knew he was supposed to be big bad Klaus. He wasn't going to just stick around and risk death for her. "Shouldn't we be happy? He doesn't want her dead.. Right?" She asked them.

"That's the only thing we can hope for right now," Stefan said. "Things are always changing with Klaus."

"Well, I'm not sticking around here any longer. Elena needs us." Damon made for the door out of the classroom.

"Where is Leila?" Nettie said, stopping Stefan as he also made to follow Damon.

"With Jeremy and Matt. We didn't want her getting hurt," Stefan told her. "Don't worry, Nettie. She's safe."

"She better be, I don't want her hurt because of your affection for Elena." She knew she had really meant Damon, but she also knew that Stefan got it. He wasn't stupid.

* * *

Leila tapped her foot on the hardwood floor, sitting in a chair beside the couch where Jeremy and Matt waited impatiently for a phone call explaining what was going on.

"This is getting to be too much," Matt said, his elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward, staring at his cell phone. "All of this is just getting to dangerous. Elena's life is constantly at risk."

Jeremy nodded. "I agree... It needs to stop."

Leila looked at the young men. "What could you possibly do about it?" she asked.

"We could lie to her. Take her out of town. She won't go willingly." Matt said.

"She wouldn't stay gone Matt.. Elena is stubborn." Leila wasn't so sure about kidnapping. It was illegal and all. But what about Elena? She wouldn't like it. She would fight it.

"It's better we tried than not lift a finger to save her from herself at all," Jeremy told Leila.

"Maybe we need to let her make the choice. Explain it to her, reason with her?" Leila asked, hoping they would come around.

"She'd never agree to it. She thinks she has so much going for herself here. She's so blind to all the bad." Jeremy sighed.

Leila looked away from the men, to the front door. Escaping Mystic Falls was probably a very good idea. It was a town filled to the brim with supernatural beings that wanted nothing more than to hurt Elena, her friends, Nettie... Leila wondered if Jeremy's and Matt's plan to take Elena away from this place was not that bad after all...

* * *

"What is this?" Elena said, the first thing her eyes landing on was an IV sticking out of her arm. Her blood dripping into a small bag below. "What are you doing to me?" She forced a yell at Niklaus who sat across from her.

"I'm draining you love. But don't worry. It won't take long. No pain." He said, smiling softly. It would be easier this way, without her. Not having to constantly go after her.

"What about your hybrids?" Elena asked, weak. She could hear it in her own voice. "You'll need more than this to create your army.

"These last few litres will have to suffice. There are other ways love." He could take his family back to New Orleans. Begin again there.

"Please, Klaus. Let me go, I won't fight you." She pleaded, pulling on the restraints.

"My family needs Alaric dead. He's the only living threat to us now... I think you understand what I'm getting at."

"Uh Klaus? I'm done packing. Where do you want this stuff?" Tyler walked in, noticing Elena. He stopped and glared at her as she bled out. He hadn't shown that he had broken the sire bond yet.. But he couldn't leave her there.

"Tyler! Tyler... Help me. Please." Elena pleaded, pulling again at the restraints.

"No. Tyler put that stuff in the car." Klaus ordered, knowing that he would have to obey.

But Tyler moved closer to Elena. "I said no!" Klaus said again.

"Just.. Just call Stefan. Please." She went on. But she was beginning to feel the blood loss.. She was getting so tired.

"Forget the girl, Tyler!" Klaus barked. Tyler bit his bottom lip, giving Elena an apologetic glance, and hurried out of the room with the luggage.

Klaus walked to the back of Elena's chair, putting his hands on her shoulders. His fingertips grazed her neck.

"Sweet dreams, Elena. It has been fun."

* * *

Elena groaned softly, struggling to get out of the chair She felt the IV tug at her arm with each movement, and the pain was immense. It was no use. She was trapped. Would it really end like this?

Tyler stepped quietly into the room, glancing around quickly as he approached her. Her started untying the ropes that bound Elena to the seat, his fingers fumbling with the restraints. He was nervous, she could tell.

"What are you doing?" Elena whimpered.

Tyler shushed her softly, pulling her free of her confines.

Elena gasped. Klaus glared in the doorframe. "Tyler."

Tyler stood up straight and turned, his gaze locking on Klaus's angry, fiery eyes.

* * *

Damon frowned deeply. The mansion was empty. No one was there... Even Klaus's car had been gone.

"Elena? Klaus?" Damon looked in each room of the large home. He found himself walking into a large room, whatever few pieces of furniture in there were covered in white sheets. There was a toppled over chair broken in three pieces strewn across the floor.

His eyes widened at the sight of Elena on the ground, unconscious. Blood streamed from her nostrils.

Damon hurried over to her and picked her up in one swift movement. He dialed 911 one his phone. "I need an ambulance." He muttered into the phone.

* * *

Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Stefan, Leila and Nettle sat in the large open boarding house living room. It had been a long day and they were all exhausted. "What are we going to do? We can't kill him now.. My magic isn't strong enough." Bonnie sighed.

"We can't just let him run around town trying to kill all the originals. If one of them dies, so do some of us." Stefan said. Who knew what bloodline they were attached to? It was a gamble that no one could afford to loose.

"I could just zap him a few times." Nettie said, yawning. "I mean.. I killed an original before, right?"

"You would die.." Caroline reminded her.

Nettie frowned. "That is here say."

"We'll figure something out.. We have to." Bonnie suggested. There wasn't many options. But they had to come out on top.. They had to.

Caroline's phone began to buzz, as did Stefan's. "Oh no." She muttered. "Elena's in the hospital. We should get there. Damon says it doesn't look good." Worry took over as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "Can this day get any worse?"

* * *

Leila stood outside Elena's room with Jeremy and Damon. Meredith opened it and stepped aside, so they could go in and see her. "She'll be fine," Meredith told the three. "It was just a concussion."

"But there was blood," Damon told her.

"Again, she's fine. Don't worry."

"Can we see her?" Jeremy asked. Meredith nodded and Jeremy hurried inside Elena's room.

"We need to get her out of here as soon as we can, Meredith," Damon said to the doctor. "Alaric is out to hurt us all. She's a sitting duck in here."

"I wanted to keep her for observation... But I guess it's more important she goes home. Just be gentle with her." Meredith gave Leila and Damon a small smile. "I'll get the discharge papers ready."

When Meredith walked away, Leila and Damon entered Elena's room. Leila frowned at Elena, the girl's breath a little heavy, her smile weak. Leila felt almost sick to her stomach. What if something like that happened to her? Or Nettie? What if something worse happened?

She felt Damon's arm brush against hers as he hurried past her, to Elena's bedside. He smiled softly at Elena. Leila hugged herself tight. Maybe Jeremy and Matt had been right.. They had to get out of there. Mystic Falls wasn't the safe haven it had once been.

* * *

They had all taken Elena back to the Gilbert house and made sure she was comfortable. It was the first time in a long while that they had been together like this.

The doorbell rang, making Bonnie jump in her seat. "Look.. Bonnie don't be mad. I had no other option." Damon told her, watching as she made for the front door.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. She turned the knob and opened the door wide. Her eyebrows raised high. "Abby?" Bonnie turned to glare at Damon. Her mother had already skipped town on her twice.

"Bonnie.. Look, I know you don't want me here but I think I can help you." Her eyes pleaded with her daughter.

"If we want to get rid of Alaric without killing Nettie, we'll need her help, Bonnie," Damon explained. "You said it yourself. You can't get rid of Alaric on your own."

"I know we can do this.. Together." Abby said softly.

Bonnie sighed, stepping back into the living room.

"Can I invite her in, Bonnie?" Elena asked her friend.

"Is this a great idea?" Leila whispered to Elena, the two sitting together on the small couch.

Elena shrugged. "Abby and Bonnie have had a lot of problems. But Abby is a good person. She would do anything to help Bonnie," she whispered back. Bonnie nodded, heading back into the living room. Elena invited Abby inside.

"So.. You said you could help us. How?" Bonnie cut right to the chase, crossing her arms grumpily over her chest. She didn't have patience for the woman who was meant to be her mother.

Abby smiled at her daughter. "I know a spell that can break the bond linking Alaric to Nettie."

"How could you possibly know a spell like that? I know it wouldn't just exist." Bonnie didn't believe her. "You aren't even a witch any more."

"The Elders want to protect Nettle." Abby explained. "They have told me this themselves."

"HOW?" Bonnie basically yelled. She was exhausted, and having this woman here wasn't helping.

"They came to me Bonnie.. They can still do that. I was trying to do a spell.. I miss being a witch." Abby grew sad, "They came to me. They told me how you could kill Alaric.. They told me lots of things."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Damon asked, a bit over-dramatically.

Leila looked to Damon. She could tell he was struggling with something... Probably the fact that, even though Alaric had turned into a monster, he had still been Damon's closest friend.

"We need daylight." Abby said. "We can't rush it Damon. Nettie would need to have daylight in order to complete the spell with Bonnie."

"How? She isn't a witch." Bonnie shook her head, "This is ridiculous."

"No, she isn't a witch, Bonnie," Abby told her. "She's something so much more." Abby said softly, "We have to trust that together, you can pull this off."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank's for the reviews guys! Love hearing from you!**

**Chapter 11:**

It was early when the door bell rang again. Just as it seemed to always do when Nettie was just starting to get comfortable. She grumbled to herself as she puttered down the stairs towards the doorway.

"Elijah?" She said, she hadn't seen him in a few days. "What's going on?"

"Klaus said that you had a run in with Alaric. I wanted to check on you." He said softly, smiling. "You look strong as ever."

She looked down at her rabbit pajamas. Elena leant them to her so they were a little long in the leg. "Yeah, picture perfect." She said back, grinning up at him. "No one is up yet.." She said, motioning to inside. "I can't invite you in."

"It's alright Nettle, I am just glad to see that you are okay."

She shimmied out onto the porch, kicking the door closed behind her. "So where have you been?" Nettie asked, curiously.

"Taking care of some family matters that needed attending too posthaste. Things are being resolved now, though." Elijah smiled at her.

Nettie shivered as she leaned down on the porch fence. "Today everything could change." She muttered.

Looking down at her he sighed, he carefully lifted his suit jacket off and placed it over her cold shoulders. "I don't know what you mean." He told her. "Care to elaborate?"

Nettie shook her head. "Things with Alaric just got a whole lot more complicated."

Elijah frowned. "How so?"

Nettie sighed loudly. "It can never just be one thing at a time Elijah. One thing would be a gift for me." She acted tough, but she was really scared on the inside. "Last night I found out that the witch elder's know about whatever I might be.. They think I can help Bonnie stop him."

Elijah was surprised by her words. "That's a good thing, is it not, Nettle?"

"I guess. Just... How much before it's to much? How many times am I going to pass out. Or kill someone by accident?" She had no idea. She was lost.

Elijah wanted to comfort her, but he didn't exactly know how. He didn't want her to get upset with him. He didn't want her to stand there, unsure if he really cared or not either.

Elijah took a quiet, but deep breath, stepping closer to Nettie. "We'll continue to work on it, Nettle. I'm back now, and I won't be leaving again for a while. I'll help you. We'll figure this out together."

Elijah had never seen Nettie so broken and fragile-looking before. She'd always seen her as a powerful woman, confident and so sure of herself. This was a different side of her.

"Kay." She mumbled softly, leaning against his shoulder. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

* * *

Leila's eyelids fluttered open at the sound of the door. She rolled over onto her back, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight pouring into room from the window. She sat up slowly and groaned, stretching. She needed coffee.

Leila groggily walked downstairs, into the Gilbert's kitchen. She scratched her head and sighed as she started digging through the cabinets for coffee grounds and sugar. "Dammit..." she grumbled. She never went a morning without her caffeine.

"You look grouchy." Damon grinned at Leila from the doorway. "They're up there." He pointed to the cabinet by the stove.

Leila looked at Damon over her shoulder for a brief moment before turning around to open the designated cabinet. She sighed, happy, and grabbed the coffee off the shelf. "Thanks," she said softly. She was still ticked with him, but for the moment coffee made it okay.

She started the coffee maker, and leaned back against the island as she waited for it to percolate. She couldn't help but notice Damon was still standing there, eyes on her. "What? Did you want a cup too?" she asked.

"Nope. Just thought I'd hang out." He told her, knowing that there was still tension. But he did feel bad for what he had done. He just wasn't so sure how to fix it.

Leila grabbed a mug out of the sink and rinsed it clean, pouring coffee into it as soon as it had brewed. She took it to the table and sat down, inhaling the scent, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly. "Mmmmmh," she sighed before taking a sip.

"So. You ever going to actually talk to me again?" He asked impatiently.

Leila looked up from her coffee, to the man in front of her, standing at the opposite end of the table. "Should I?" she asked. "Give me a reason to."

"Do you need one?" He didn't think so. They had to work together in all of this so why should he need a reason?

Leila looked away from him. "...You really did a lot to hurt the trust I had in you when you compelled me, Damon." She put the mug to her lips and took another swallow of coffee. It hadn't been the actual kiss itself that'd made her mad. It was the fact that he'd actually thought she wouldn't get angry if he'd glamored her.

She sighed, "You may think that it's as easy as just talking Damon. But for me it isn't. I try my best to be nice, listen to you. But it's hard to watch you destroy yourself. I think for now we should just stay away from each other." It hurt her to say it, but it was for the best. She was seriously considering leaving Mystic Falls herself, even if Matt and Jeremy didn't decide on taking Elena away.

* * *

The office was dim, but the light shone through regardless. Elijah had caught up with his brother before he had left town and forced them all to stay. Needless to say, Niklaus was upset.

"I don't see how she can stop any of this Elijah. We should leave with Nik." Rebekah told him as the whole family sat around in the small room.

"I am not sure of the specifics. But I do know that the elder's are on their side. If Nettle is important enough that they stepped in then I think staying a few more days wouldn't hurt." He told them, staying hopeful that the small blond could do what she said.

"This is ridiculous. What can some small human do. Honestly. I am becoming bored with all of this brother." Kol shot him down. "We should leave. It would be smart."

"If we don't give the witch and Nettle a chance, we may have fled for nothing." Elijah pressed them. "She is stronger then we could imagine. I know that. You know that brother." Elijah looked at Niklaus. But he stood facing the open window, staring out across the open field where they had spent so much time with the girl.

"So you would risk our lives.. For Nettie Maxwell?" Rebekah asked him.

"I would try to help her so that we may all stay in our home."

"I must agree this time sister." Klaus said, finally turning from the window. His blood had been taken and he was left with no way to build his army. He would be helpless when their mother returned for vengeance. "We should give the two a chance."

"Then it is settled. We stay." Elijah smiled. He and Kol left the room, bickering still as they went.

The room grew deadly silent as Rebekah stood alone with her brother. She watched him turn back to the open window. "You love this girl don't you?" She asked him. The look he wore, something she had not seen in a very long time.

"I love no one sister. You know that." He told her.

"You lie a lot to.." She waited for an answer that never came. "He would be alright you know. He would understand." She spoke of Elijah. For all the bad Nik had caused, Elijah was sure there was some good in him still. Maybe this would be a route to that goodness.

"I owe him to much Rebekah."

* * *

Leila sat on the bed, watching as Nettie pulled her jacket on. Nettle dropped Elijah's suit jacket on the bed. "You and Elijah seem to be bonding fast." Leila asked her. "That suit jacket was tailor made Nettie. He just gave it to you."

"Really?" Nettie looked down. "Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing." She had to meet with Abby and Bonnie.

Nothing? Leila thought, Yeah. Right. "I hope this spell Abby is preparing you for works. I'm worried about you." Leila frowned deeply. She felt a lump rising in her throat and she swallowed hard, pushing it back. She couldn't let on about anything. She had to stay calm.

"I'll be fine, Lei." Nettie told her, shaking her head as she smiled. "You worry too much." Nettie kneeled down by the bed. "Think I should take my sword?"

"No." Leila smiled. "Look, Matt and I are going to meet up. I want to make sure you're going to be alright." She asked again.

"I'll be fine." Nettle muttered grumpily this time. She hated when people repeated themselves. "I love you. And have fun!"

Leila nodded. "I love you too, Nettie." Leila went to tap her toes on the floor but stopped almost immediately. She watched as Nettie waved and left the room. The moment she heard the front door slam shut, she let herself cry. She wondered how long it was going to be until she saw Nettie again.

But deep down she knew that Nettie had changed. She was independent now. Maybe she would be alright.

* * *

Nettie pulled up to the large, open field where Bonnie and Abby had told her to meet them. She found the mother and daughter waiting, Abby smiling at her arrival. Bonnie looked a little worried.

Nettie climbed out of the beater car and approached the women. "It's pretty light out here, should we get this party started?" Nettie asked impatiently. She wasn't into making another vampire friend.

"Well that seems like a good idea Nettle." Abby looked to Bonnie. "Are you ready to begin? The spell isn't an easy one. It requires patience and concentration. Bonnie will start. Nettle I want you to just be here okay? The elder's have told me that the power Bonnie will need resides inside of you. All you need to do is let her draw it for the spell."

Bonnie turned to the blonde and took her hands. She closed her eyes.

"Remember what we went over, Bonnie," Abby said.

"I know," Bonnie told her, her grip on Nettie's hands tightening just slightly. She started to chant.

For a while, Nettie felt like it was just a waste of time. Nothing was different, nothing was changing. If Alaric wasn't around, how would they even know it worked, anyway?

* * *

Leila let out a little gasp at the sound of knocking on her front door. She picked up her suitcase and answered it. Matt was standing outside.

"Where's Elena?" Leila asked nervously.

"She's in the truck," he told her. He held his hand out to take Leila's suitcase.

"She just agreed to go along?" Leila furrowed her brow.

"...I had to drug her," he said. "She's been out for like fifteen minutes now... Not too sure how much longer it'll last, so we need to get going."

Leila nodded and Matt headed back to his truck. Leila locked the door behind her and looked up at the house. She frowned. "Bye Mom... Nettie." She hurried to the old pick up.

* * *

It was mid day Leila figured as she watched out the window. Elena was beginning to stir next to her. They had crossed the Wickery Bridge about fifteen minutes ago and they were now out of town.

"What's going on?" Elena muttered from next to her, "How did I get in here? Matt?" She was clearly confused, as anyone would be.

"It was the only way I was gonna get you in this truck," Matt said.

Elena frowned. "The tea? You drugged me?" She looked to Leila. "And you were in on it?"

"I..." Leila started.

"She wanted to leave Mystic Falls. I told her she could come along," Matt answered for her.

"But the spell.. Bonnie and Nettie need us! We need to go back!" Elena started to panic.

"I'm getting you out of town, Elena. It's the only way to keep you safe. You don't belong in the middle of a vampire war." Matt pressed the matter. Lelia couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the middle of their argument.

"Look.. Maybe if she wants go back.." She began speaking.

"We are going back! Stefan and Damon need us Leila." Elena began trying to get Leila on her side. "What happens when Alaric finds them? What then?"

Leila swallowed hard. "He won't... Nettie, Bonnie and Abby won't let him get that far," she told Elena, trying to stick to her original plan, trying to have an answer to all the reasons Elena wanted them to turn back.

"Turn the truck around Matt. I won't ask you again." Elena said sternly. She would fight if she had to.

Why did Elena have to mention Damon? Leila looked out the window and bit her lip. What if the spell didn't work? What if she was right? And if it didn't work... What if something happened to Nettie? Leila shook her head and sighed loudly. "Listen to her Matt. Turn the truck around. We can't just leave them like this. So much can go wrong."

Matt grumbled angrily as he turned the truck around and headed back towards Wickery Bridge. Back to the chaos he would never escape as long as he was friends with Elena.

Leila couldn't help but feel relief wash over her as they got back on familiar roads. She could feel the anger radiating off of Matt, but it was probably for the best they stayed anyway. All their leaving would have done was made everyone sad or upset.

"This isn't how our lives were supposed to be," Matt muttered.

"Who decides that anyways?" Elena shot back. She could see the bridge just ahead, as relief began to flow back. She just hoped the spell was going as planned. "Can I have your cell phone, Matt. I need to call Jeremy," Elena said.

"He isn't going to be happy that you're coming back to more danger," Matt told her, shifting in his seat to pull his cell phone from his pants pocket.

Leila looked from Matt to the bridge ahead of them. "Matt! Stop!" she yelled, bracing herself.

Matt and Elena looked up into the road, Alaric's figure standing in the center of the bridge. He looked broken, his body twisted, eyes bleeding. He was pissed. Matt slammed on the brakes and the truck spun out, taking them right off the edge of Wickery Bridge.

* * *

Stefan drove down the roads leading out of Mystic Falls, Damon in the passenger's seat beside him. Abby had asked them to track Alaric via cell phone and to call them if something went wrong with the spell and it had not worked.

Damon looked to Stefan. "He's stopped moving," he told his brother.

"There is a whole lot of blood. Is that normal?" Stefan asked himself as they exited the car. "What happened here?" He asked, looking up to the smashed up bridge.

"The hell...?" Damon walked over to the rails and looked down, into the dark waters below. "Stefan, track Elena's phone." He muttered.

Stefan did, his eyes widening as he realized what was going on. "Damon. She's down there." Stefan didn't wait as he plunged into the dark depths below.

Damon swallowed hard before he dived in after Stefan. He could barely see a thing, but he found his brother ripping off the door of what looked to be Matt's pick up truck. He swam over to Stefan, grabbing his shoulder and looked inside the vehicle. Elena was waving her hands, motioning to Leila and Matt who had already gone unconscious.

Damon felt something tug at his heart when he realized Leila was there. He swam inside and pulled her free of her seat belt.

Stefan unbuckled and grabbed Matt the second Damon was out of his way, turning quickly and hurrying for the surface behind his brother.

Damon gasped for air the second he broke the surface of the water and swam out to the street. He put Leila down on her back. "Leila! Leila!" he yelled. He she shook her.. "Leila, wake up!"

"Elena's not waking up." Stefan said over Damon's yelling. He began dialling 911.

"Please.. Leila. Wake up." He pleaded, watching as she lay limp in his arms. He bit into his wrist and shoved it at her mouth, panic filling him. She couldn't die, he hadn't made it up to yet. She didn't know how sorry he had really been. "Leila." He sobbed, placing his head into her chest. She was gone.

Matt woke with a start, coughing up water. Stefan hurried over to the blonde man and grabbed his shoulders, moving him upright.

The ambulance arrived in only a couple minutes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: **

Nettie rushed into the small elevator at the Mystic Falls hospital. Her sister had drowned. She was going to kill Matt. She rounded the corner into the small white room. "Where is she?" She asked Damon. He looked paler than usual as he stood against the doorway.

"Nettie," he said softly. Nettie could hear the strain in his voice. "I tried to save her. I'm sorry," he explained. He stepped aside, making space for Nettie to enter the room where Leila's lifeless body lay.

"LEILA!" She cried out, climbing onto the small hospital bed. "Wake up." She stroked the girls forehead softly. "Please." She whispered, her hand heating at the touch. "Wake up Lei." Tears poured from her eye's as she waited for something to happen.

"It's not going to work, Nettie," Damon said, coming inside behind her. "She's gone." He closed his eyes, swallowing hard.

"Where is he? Damon where is Matt?" She asked, wiping the tears from her cheek and sliding from the bed.

"He's still being taken care of."

"I'll take care of him." She said coldly, moving for the front door.

Damon stepped in Nettie's way, grabbing her shoulders tightly. "Leila wouldn't want you to hurt him!" He said to her.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT? YOU know nothing about Leila!" She shouted. "Now get the hell out of my way before I take care of you as well." Damon had never seen her like this. If he was honest with himself, it was a bit scary.

"Nettie."

"Get out. Of. My. Way." She repeated.

"Nettie."

"Shut up Leila, I'm talking to Damon!" She stammered at the wheezy voice behind her.

Damon's eyes widened as he turned Nettie around. Leila was sitting up, gasping, her face pale. But she was conscious, she was looking at them. "You won't hurt anyone Nettle. Sit down." She said this time.

"Leila!" She spun around and jumped onto the bed excitedly. "You're alive!"

Leila reached to hug Nettie. "I don't remember anything," she said. "What happened? Why is Damon here?"

"He found you. You, Matt and Elena went over the bridge into the water. You were dead." Nettie said all at once. "He saved you."

Leila let go of Nettie and looked to Damon.

She looked so pitiful in his eyes, so frail and drained.

"Are they alright?" Leila asked them.

"Matt's fine," Damon said. "And... Elena's going to be okay." Damon walked across the room to stand at the bedside. "But you were dead... You didn't have a pulse," he said only loud enough that she could hear.

"Nettle, give us a minute alright? I'll be okay." Leila told her sister. Nettie grumbled and left the room. "Explain yourself." She said to Damon.

"You were dead. I gave you my blood, but it shouldn't have worked Leila. You shouldn't be here." He told her, sitting on a chair next to her.

Tears welled up in the corners of Leila's eyes. "I died?" Her bottom lip quivered. Damon only nodded to her. "Then why I am here, Damon?" her voice rose an octave.

"I think it had something to do with Nettie and me combined." He shrugged. He wasn't a doctor or a supernatural expert.

"Will I be okay?" she asked. "Jesus Damon I was so scared!"

"I think you changed Leila. Your like me now. Like Stefan." He said, trying to be understanding. He was scared.

"I'm a..." she couldn't bring herself to say it. She covered her face in with her hands and sobbed loudly. "I can't be!"

* * *

Leila sat in her bed, her comforter gripped tight in her hand. She watched the door where Nettie and Damon had just exited and started poking at her gums. They ached something wicked, but she didn't want to say anything to her sister or Damon. Damon would just make a snarky comment and. Nettie... Well, Nettie was impatient.

She quickly put her hands down in her lap when she heard them coming back through the hallway. Leila sighed when Damon approached the end of her bed, arms crossed over his chest. "Are you going to complete the transition?" he asked her, his expression grim.

Nettie looked to Leila expectantly. "You have to feed right? Otherwise you die." And that was not an option for Leila. Not if Nettie had something to do with it.

Leila looked down at her hands. She never wanted this for herself. She hadn't even had a choice. But she knew if she didn't complete the transition, she'd die, and she'd hurt her friends and Nettie especially.

Leila nodded. "Yeah, I'll do it."

"Great, so lets do this then yeah?" Nettie said, pulling out the dagger that had been left behind from Alaric's turn. Yes she had gone back for it. It was shiny.

Leila frowned. "Nettie... I can't hurt you."

Damon sighed. "You're going to be hurting a lot of people after you turn. Better to get over that feeling now."

Leila narrowed her eyes at Damon, glaring. "Really?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Unless someone has any other ideas. You have to feed, Leila. Vampires can't go without blood. And don't even suggest animals! That makes you weak. Like Stefan."

"There is nothing wrong with Stefan." Leila scolded Damon. "But you know that Damon. So drop it."

Nettie sighed at the bickering. She just rolled her eyes and sliced the palm of her hand with the shiny dagger. Leila's mouth shut instantly. "I gotta go to school today so make it snappy." She said, pushing her palm closer to her friends face.

Leila seemed out of it, like her head was up in the clouds. She grabbed Nettie's hand and pressed her sister's palm to her lips. The smell was so intoxicating and the taste grew from gross to delicious quickly. Leila didn't want to stop drinking.

"Alright Red, we don't need killing your sister on the list of reasons you hate being you. Come on." Damon said, pulling Leila off of Nettie.

Nettie was fine, she wiped her hand off, healing her wound after. "Kay, have fun guys. School!" She smiled cheerfully, as if nothing was different.

Leila watched as Nettie left the room. She looked to Damon over her shoulder. He still had his hands on her arms. He sighed and wiped the blood on her mouth away with his sleeve. "Now the fun begins."

* * *

After Nettie finished school she made for the boarding house. Leila hadn't wanted to be left alone, so she'd gone back there with Damon.

She didn't knock anymore, becoming more at home in the large mansion the Salvatore's called home. Instead, Nettie pushed the old wooden door open and walked right in. "Sup people. Bite anyone good today?" She asked loudly, joining the group in the parlor.

"Oh look, it's blondie." Damon smirked.

"Hey, Nettie," Leila said, looking a little less pale than she had that morning.

"What's wrong?" Nettie asked, gaging the room. There was some sort of tension in the air that made her uncomfortable. "I was only gone for like six hours." She said, waiting for them to spill the beans.

"We found out that before Alaric died, he'd told the council about us, and the fact that Carol and Liz have supernatural children," Damon stated. "They attacked Tyler."

"Ah. Well geez you guys, it seems like we are never going to escape this stuff. No offence Damon but I think it would have been better if we had just avoided Matt the night of the Mikaelson Ball." Nettie huffed, shoving her friend over on the sofa.

"No offence to me?" Damon raised a brow.

"Sure why not." She shrugged. "That's what people are supposed to say aren't they? I could have just said maybe we should ditch you guys now so we can have a break." She yawned, leaning back into the couch.

"But we would never do that," Leila said. "Ever. We're in this together."

"You wouldn't do that. I on the other hand would so do that." Nettie raised a brow at Leila.

She nodded, totally agreeing.

"Anyway," Stefan said. "We'll need to be extra cautious around town. We also need to be careful to be sure we don't let on that Leila and Elena have turned."

* * *

**Later on that night:**

Nettie had gone home and Leila almost felt relief. Her friend was great and she loved her but the smell was hard to ignore. Not to mention the sounds that came out of her. She hadn't quite began to learn how to lower the volume on her new vampire hearing.

Elena was upstairs with Stefan talking as per usual and Damon was out doing God knows what. Leila found herself sitting quietly in the room she was to call her own for a little while... She wanted to be anywhere but there. Her body felt like it was exploding from the inside out, she had energy that she couldn't contain. She needed to move not be stuck in her room.

Leila got out of bed and walked out into the hallway, hoping to bump into Stefan or anyone for that matter. She stopped at the top of the stairs.

What was that strange sound? She was sure she could hear some kind of rustling. She stopped and looked towards the window when a loud crash stunned her. She stumbled back a few feet before a white light took over along with searing pain.

"Leila!" Stefan yelled, heading for the men that had broken through their door. But there were too many. He couldn't do anything.

* * *

Nettie and Damon walked up the dirt drive to the Boarding House. They'd gone out to do some recon, to investigate the goings-on of the council. They hadn't found out anything of interest, really. Only heard again the things they already knew.

"Well, that was useless," Damon groaned, walking up to the front door of his home.

"All this council stuff bores me," Nettie said, waving her hand in front of her face. "Let's go get ice cream or something."

Damon sighed as he reached for the door knob... He put his hand down. The door was busted in. There was no door knob to grab.

"What the hell Damon?" Nettie asked worriedly.

"Leila! Stefan, Elena?!" Damon hurried inside, the door toppling over when he pushed on it.

The entryway was destroyed.

"Leila!" Nettie called. "This is bad. Really, really bad."

"We need to figure out where they would go. There really aren't many places someone can hold a vampire." Damon said quickly, waiting for Nettie to reveal the answer.

"Maybe the council is behind this... The Pastor has a cattle ranch. Those pens could easily be modified." Nettie grabbed her sword from the coat closet.

"What is that even doing here? Honestly." He eyed the weird girl.

"What? I take it places. Do things with it." No big deal, she shrugged. Why wouldn't she take it absolutely everywhere she went?

* * *

Leila groaned, rolling her head to the side. Her breath caught in her throat and she started coughing. Something had set the inside of her mouth on fire.

"You're awake?" Stefan asked Leila. "It's Vervain, it's coming in through the vents," he explained.

"Stefan, I'm dying. I need blood," Elena said. Leila turned her head to find the girl in the cell with her.

"She should have fed already," Leila said, coughing some more.

"Hey! Anyone! Hey!" Stefan started making racket. Leila grabbed her head in agony. Why did it have to be so loud all the time.

An officer came in, slamming his baton against the bars angrily. "Stop yelling or I'll make you." He smacked the bar again. "You want more Vervain? Keep it down."

"Listen to me. Elena's going to die if you don't let her out of here." Stefan clutched the cell bars tight in his hands.

Leila rolled her eyes, putting her forehead against the cold metal that confined her and her friends. The cool eased her aching head.

"Sorry, not my problem."

"She's innocent! Let her out!" Stefan continued. "She isn't one of us!"

The officer ignored Stefan's pleas and left the barn.

* * *

Elena looked up, moaning softly, her eyes closed as she felt her body slowly shut down. She hadn't wanted to be a vampire, but now that death was knocking on her door, she wanted nothing more than to feed and live.

Bonnie aparated into the small cramped cell, reaching out for the weakened, dying girl. "Elena." Bonnie pulled her friend to her feet. "Come back. Come back..."

"Leila." Elena rasped tiredly. Looking rapidly back and forth at the two. "Do you see her? Bonnie.."

Leila frowned. What was Elena going on about?

Bonnie smiled at Elena. "We're going home," she said. Leila winced, trying hard to ignore Elena's incessant yammering.

Elena's hands fell to her side as Bonnie looked up from her to the bars behind. "Gram's. What are you doing." Bonnie said, confused. "No.. Elena needs me." She shook her head.

Elena blinked a few times before Bonnie disappeared. There was no saving her. She had to turn.

* * *

After a few moments of Elena and Stefan talking back and forth to each other Leila began to get annoyed. Leila felt her anger getting the best of her. It wasn't like her, to feel so upset. But it was just continuous yelling and screaming to her now. Ugh, why did Damon have to do this to her? She was ready to die.

She slammed her hand on the bar loudly, shocking Elena who jumped in her spot. "GUARDS!" She yelled, her voice shifting to one she hadn't heard in a long time. Angry, pissed off Leila. "GUARDS!" She screamed once more, slamming her hand on the bar again.

"What is it?" Stefan asked, worriedly." Hoping that Elena wasn't dead in the cell next to him.

The guard stomped back into the building grumpily. "I thought I told you to shut up!" He snapped moved towards her quickly.

Her hand shot out, surprising Elena as she reached out, grabbing the guard. She still wasn't so sure of what she could do, but she did know one thing; she had strength. She slammed the man's face against the bars until he began to bleed, dropping him to the dirt floor at her feet. "Now will you please just both be quiet!"

* * *

Nettie and Damon climbed out of the car. She held the sword in her hand feeling like a badass. But at the same time she hated the idea of getting more blood on her shiny sword. "So what, we just storm the place with just this?" She asked, holding up the sword.

"Nah we don't need weapons. We are two badass magical creatures right?" He asked her, smiling. "Yoo-hoo! Anybody home? Big, bad vampire out here.. And some kinda shiny... Annoying thing that can zap you!"

The pastor swung the door open, "You ain't getting in here! Boy's!" He called out towards the barn.

"Give us Stefan, Leila and Elena!" Nettie yelled at him, holding the sword up awkwardly.

"Go away! You are not invited in and I'm not coming out!" The pastor yelled again.

Damon rolled his eyes. "You realize I have a crazy friend here, who just so happens to be very much alive."

* * *

Damon watched as the men ran towards them. Nettie dropped the sword, he could see the pain in her eyes as it hit the wet grass. Throwing her hands out she began hitting the council members with light.

Damon finally snapped to it, rushing one and snapping his neck swiftly, dropping him to the dirt. As the dust began to settle Damon could see his family and friends making their way from the barn. He felt relief wash over him, seeing Leila safe and unhurt.

"Damon?" Leila panted, approaching him. "Nettie?" she picked up her pace, reaching Nettie and Damon before Stefan and Elena were halfway out the yard.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked quickly, looking down at Leila's hands to find them bloodied.

"What the hell happened?" Nettie asked.

Leila looked down at her hands. She had the urge to lick the red, sticky substance off her fingers but decided against it. She wasn't a wild beast. She was still a person. "I killed someone," she said, and the words sounded strange to her ears. Any other time she would have been freaking out, but at the moment, she almost felt proud of herself. She felt kind of awesome.

* * *

Leila sat on the rooftop of the Salvatore Boarding House with Damon, looking up at the stars. She bounced her foot up and town, thinking about earlier that night. Thinking back on killing that guard, she found herself feeling scared. She'd killed someone.

"Long day." Damon said awkwardly, trying to small talk with the red head.

"Really? Long day? After all that has happened the last few days?" Leila raised a brow at him. "Damon I forgive you okay. I get it." She sighed, pushing her feet out in front of her. "It's been a hard few days and I just want to start over." Leila looked at him from the corner of her eye. "New me, new beginnings, right?"

"Really?" He asked her, "Just like that? I made you this way and you clearly didn't want it."

Leila nodded. "Just like that... You did it for a good reason, Damon. That's all that matters." Leila smiled at him widely. "But you have to promise me something," she said, suddenly frowning.

"Okay.." He said sceptically.

"Promise you will help me through this." Her hands closed into tight fists. "I'm really scared."

"You sure you don't want Stefan? He can be a little more PG.."

Leila tilted her head to the side, resting it on his shoulder. "I'm sure, Damon."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

Nettie's head shot up as Leila's phone started beeping loudly. "Dammit Lei! Really?" She snapped grumpily, grabbing her friends phone from the table by their bed.

TYLER'S BEEN ATTACKED.

"Caroline's freaking out." She sighed, pulling their blankets off. "Great. Way to leave your phone here and make this my problem Lei!" She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and climbed out. She figured either Leila would want her phone back or Caroline needed some sort of help. Either way her sleep had been ruined.

* * *

"So he just shot Tyler? Like.. With a gun?" Elena asked.. But it was a strange thing these days; getting shot in Mystic Falls.

"Yes!" Caroline exclaimed. "Like a hand gun. Tyler had to jump out the window just to get away." They really needed to fix this. "He was asking a whole lot of questions to. About the council and the Pastor's house going boom last night."

"Is he on the council?" Damon asked her, "I thought Liz and Carol were all that was left." He had finally gotten rid of all the council members that didn't trust him. He thought he was scott free.

"Mrs. Lockwood didn't recognize him at all. He didn't even tell her what he was doing here. He was just drilling for answers." Caroline frowned. She looked frazzled. "When he shot Tyler, he did it because he knew Tyler wasn't normal."

"So someone else in Mystic Falls knows our little secret... Yipee," Damon commented, unenthusiastically.

"You think he's just after Tyler?" Leila asked.

"Mrs. Lockwood seems to think otherwise," Caroline informed them.

Stefan stood up from his seat on the couch, by Elena. "Then we need to find this guy and take him down, or at least figure out what he's up to."

"Of course we do. I mean who gets a day off around here? Certainly not me." Nettie grumbled loudly, slapping her hands down on her legs dramatically.

"Here," Caroline reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag with a bullet inside. "This was the bullet he shot Tyler with."

Stefan took the bag. "Maybe I can bring this to Bonnie," he suggested.

"She hasn't been answering text messages or phone calls since the night I turned," Elena told him.

"Then I guess I'll stop by her place, see what's up," Stefan told them. "I'll be back soon." Stefan leaned forward to kiss Elena's hair before he left.

Damon sighed loudly beside Leila.

"I want to go and check on Tyler, make sure everything is alright.. The funeral was supposed to be this morning and we all sort of played hooky." She felt bad. Normally Caroline was on top of these things. But not today. "Nettie, since you want a boring day why not tag along?" She asked the grumpy blond.

"No fighting?" Nettie felt her heart beat faster.

"Nope." Caroline smiled.

* * *

Nettie and Caroline rapped on the door to the Lockwood house. The door flew open, revealing a stunned looking Tyler. "Uh, what's up?" He asked.

"Uh, what's up? Tyler I'm your girlfriend and you were just shot. I'm here to make sure your alright." She placed her hands on her hips. "You going to let us in?"

His eyes went to Nettie, then to Caroline. "Look... Klaus is here with his hybrids. I think maybe now isn't the best time for a meet and greet."

"Klaus is here?" Nettie asked, trying to peek through the crack in the door. "Hybrids?"

"Uh.. Ya." He had always thought Nettie was a little strange. Nettie knew that. But the last time she had actually seen Klaus was when he had saved her from the school. And that was a little awkward to say the least.. At least she thought so.

"Look.. Just come back later, okay?" He said again.

"Really, Tyler?!" Caroline put her hands on her hips. "What the hell has gotten into you?!"

Nettie was still peeking inside over Tyler's shoulder, completely ignoring the bickering couple. She started to hop up and down. "Oh my god! Look at all that shiny stuff !" Nettie pushed past Tyler and she turned to glare at her. "You've been holding out on me, Lockwood! But I always had a feeling you were good for something." Nettie reached for a shiny, glass ornament.

Tyler turned to look at Caroline again.

"What? She can come in and I can't?"

Tyler scratched the back of his neck. "You know there's no arguing with Nettie."

Caroline growled loudly and crossed her arms. "You know what? Fine. I'll go. Don't call me tonight." The blonde vampire turned on her heel and hurried off back towards her car.

When she was out of sight, Tyler sighed, closing the door with a loud bang. "Did you really have to just barge in here?"

"Shiny things! Nettie told him, holding a little dagger in her hand. "I wasn't about to just leave without... examining them first."

Tyler rolled his eyes and left the foyer. Nettie pocketed the dagger and ornament, walking casually after Tyler. "What is it with you? I thought maybe when you got a bit older you might.. Level out a bit." But clearly she hadn't.

"What? I just enjoy the shinier things in life!" What the hell was wrong with that? NOTHING!

Tyler walked into the office, Nettie on his tail, hands tucked behind her back. He frowned deeply at Klaus who was sitting in his deceased father's desk.

"She's in the other room," Klaus said. "I figured it be best for your darling Caroline to not find another woman in your home." He peered over Tyler's shoulder, spotting the strange blonde girl. "Nettle, what brings you to the Lockwood family.. Home?"

"Klaus." She nodded shyly. Something new for Nettie Maxwell.

"I gotta go check on Hayley," Tyler said, shaking his head and hurrying out of the room.

"So, I just got off the phone with Damon Salvatore," Klaus started. "He agreed to assist me on finding this threat. Would you like to come along love? Lend your services?" In a weird way he hoped she would say yes..

"Kay.. But is it worth it? I mean excuse me if I am speaking out of turn but your hybrids don't seem as... Attached to you as they once were." She wasn't sure if he had noticed. But she knew about Tyler and Haley's extracurricular activities.

"I am not concerned with my hybrids, Love. They will always and forever be sired to me. Nothing can possibly break that." Klaus smiled.

"What if they weren't? Sired to you I mean.." She said quietly, picking up small shiny objects from the desk and peering down at them nervously.

"It would mean bad things for the person behind it. Why do you ask? Something up your sleeve, love?" He leaned forward in his seat, handles folded together in his lap.

"Nope, no reason. Just trying to find something to talk about.. Clearly." She eyed him as she shoved a small shiny paper weight into her bag. Klaus observed, holding back a smile as he watched her steal from Tyler's dead father.

"I assume at some point we should discuss what happened the other day?" He asked her, knowing it wouldn't bring any sort of answers. "I discussed it with my brother and it seems he is more interested in finding out what you are then before." He raised his eyes to hers again, forcing her to look at him.

She moved towards Klaus by the large window looking out over the Lockwood estate. "These people are rich, I wonder how many shiny things I can shove in my bag before they start to notice." She changed the subject, not wanting to talk about it anymore. At all... Ever.

She could feel him next to her as he turned to look along with her. "They are a founding family love, it is to be expected."

"Is it?" She had never had money to throw around on shiny things. "We.. I mean Leila's family are part of the founders of Mystic Falls.. They haven't really had money to throw around like the others."

"The Maxwell family has also had more than it's fair share of troubles." He knew Nettie wasn't really a Maxwell.. Just as he was not really a Mikaelson.

"Leila's father was a drinker.. Spent a lot of Holly's money on drinking and gambling.. They barely had enough to feed me when I showed up.." She hated to think about those days. Leila was so sad then.. But once they became close they always knew how to lift each others spirits. They had each other and that was enough.

He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "My brother cares for you a great deal as I am sure you know. But I can't help myself most times it seems." He just held on to her a moment, unmoving.

She stood stalk still, not hating the sensation of the hug she was getting. It was rather enjoyable.. So why couldn't she breathe?

* * *

After a long day of research into the mysterious stranger shooting vampires around town, Damon and Leila had found something. He approached the old trailer, Leila close behind him.

"Should we even be here, Damon?" Leila asked, her super sensory hearing picking up every little sound in the woods. "It's hard to focus." She rubbed her temple.

"Of course not. But we're here anyway." Damon opened the door to the trailer and stuck his foot in the doorway. To his satisfaction, an invitation wasn't needed for he and Leila to enter. "Wait out there. It could be a trap."

Damon walked inside the trailer, finding newspaper clippings and notes scattered across the whole mobile home. Leila stood in the doorframe, looking around without actually going inside. "What is in here?" she asked.

"Hmmm..." Damon reached for a clipping and was suddenly shot by two arrows. He stumbled backwards, fighting to catch himself.

Leila gasped. "Damon!" She sometimes found it hard to remember that a simple shot to the torso didn't kill vampires.. At least not most times.

"Um, yeah..." he groaned. "I'm going to need your help."

Leila's eyes opened wide. "What do you expect me to do?! What is that anyway?" Leila took a step inside and closed the door behind her.

"Well," Damon said, annoyance in his tone. "These arrows trigger a bomb."

"A bomb?" Leila

"No, Leila. Not a bomb. A kitten. An adorable, exploding kitten." Damon groaned. "Just listen! You need to pull the arrows out without tripping the trap." He flicked the string.

"Please. Stop. Just... Stop." Leila walked over to Damon, putting a hand on his back as she struggled with the arrows.

* * *

"So you are saying that Elena's brother noticed some kind of tattoo on the man?" Klaus asked Damon as Nettie and Leila whispered in the background.

"The kid says he saw something but I didn't. Leila didn't.. There wasn't anything there." Damon had a hard time dealing with Jeremy. But for a while he came along with loving Elena.. There was no ignoring him.

"Interesting." Klaus looked up as Elijah joined the office filled with people. "Ah brother, just in time. It seems we have a bit of a problem once again."

Elijah rose his eyebrows. "Is that so? What is it this time?"

"We've got a vampire hunter in town, and we have reason to believe he is linked to the Five," Klaus explained.

"As in the five hunters?" He raised a brow.

"It seems so. I think it is time for further investigation."

* * *

"Meredith." Damon said, greeting the strange doctor that Alaric had once dated. "You said you saw the hunter following you?" He asked her.

Klaus allowed Damon his banter with the doctor as he waited. If it truly was a hunter, they would all be in great danger once again.

"Yes," Meredith replied. "I don't know what he'd possibly want from me."

"It's probably the fact that you use vampire blood to heal your patients, love," Klaus commented.

"I have an idea, but we're gonna need bait," Nettie told the three. "Doc, you're it."

Meredith frowned but nodded slowly.

* * *

Nettie watched as Meredith headed for the storeroom, a shadow slinking across the hall after her. The figure ducked into the storeroom when Meredith disappeared from sight.

Nettie quietly dashed down the hall, and into the room behind the doctor, the hunter, closing the door shut silently behind her.

"Is the hospital really the best place for someone like you?" The hunter said as Damon stepped into view. Nettie came out of the shadows behind the man.

The hunter pulled a gun from his under his coat and aimed at Damon. The man grunted as he was struck by arrows. Nettie jabbed them in with both hands as hard as she could. Niklaus kicking him to his knees on the hospital floor.

"Stings doesn't it?" Damon asked. "I ran into these in what must have been your trailer. Funny isn't it? When someone uses your weapon against you?"

The hunter reached for his gun, but Klaus kicked it out of the way. "Hello, mate."

Nettie backed off from the hunter as he struggled to sit up. "Ohh he wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. Honestly they whined a lot about you little hunter."

The black man growled and tried to gently tug the arrow from his back.

"Keep it up, Buddy and we'll be scraping you off the ceiling," Damon said, smirking.

"You three are gonna kill me anyway," the hunter grumbled.

"Well, let's not be too hasty. I feel like we are just getting to know each other," Klaus chimed in, grinning ear-to-ear. "Besides. One doesn't just kill a hunter and you know it."

"Let's start with the basics," Damon said.

Nettie kicked the man in the ribs. "Who are you, where are you from, what do you know? Bla, bla, bla.." She deadpanned gloomily.

The hunter groaned again. "I'm not telling you anything. And if you think killing me will make it all end, there's another waiting in my place."

"You're one of the Five, we know that much," Klaus started. The stranger frowned, as if looking confused. "Ah." Klaus crossed his arms. "You don't know about the Five?" He smirked, realizing he may have the upper hand.

Connor grinned cockily, and tugged the wires attached to the bombs.

Damon grabbed Nettie and dashed out into the hallway, shielding her with his body against the explosion. Nettie looked over Damon's shoulder as the explosion dispersed. She knew nothing could kill an Original Vampire. But for a moment she couldn't help but worry about Klaus being caught in the explosion. "I thought he couldn't die!" She stammered, struggling against Damon. If the hunter was killed what would happen to them?

"It'll be fine," Damon told her, trying hard to hang on. The girl was really strong compared to most humans. "Don't worry."

When the smoke cleared, Klaus was carrying the hunter, wounded in his arms. "It looks like we've succeeded in what we'd come here to do," he said.

Nettie let out a little sigh of relief. Damon let go of her. "Why would you do that! Who stands directly in the middle of an explosion!" She scolded him worriedly. Anyone could see she was pissed off at Klaus.

"I can't die love. But thanks for caring." He smirked, his eyes glinting something mysterious, pushing past the little blond girl with a playful brush of his arm against hers.

Damon looked to Nettie. "I'm going to stay here and explain the mess... You go with Klaus and take our hunter back to his mansion."

"Fine, but if this idiot tries to kill himself again I'm out. No more Nettie helping you out.." She grumbled, following after Niklaus.

* * *

Damon went back to the Maxwell house to pick up Leila. She had needed to pick up her things while Nettie was away. He walked up the rickety old porch and knocked on the door. No answer came.

It wasn't like he hadn't already been invited in before. He'd come to pick Leila and Nettie up numerous times. He was just trying to be polite for the sake of the girls' mother being home.

He knocked again, and instead of the door opening for him, a blood curdling scream came from inside. Damon broke the lock and shoved his way inside. Making for the kitchen he found Leila.

She was holding her mother in her arms, hand around Holly's neck as she held her down to feed. He could see Holly about ready to fade into unconsciousness. "LEILA STOP!" He stammered, pulling the small red head away from her mother. "You have to stop." He told her, bringing her back to the real world.

Leila stared blankly at her mother, "Oh my God. Mom, I'm sorry. I'm so – I'm so sorry. I didn't – I didn't mean to." She mumbled, sobbing softly.

Damon bit into his wrist and pressed it to Holly's lips. Damon stared into her eyes. "You won't remember any of this. Leila came home, grabbed her things and left."

"Damon... What did I do?" Leila was beginning to cry behind him.

"Nothing you should be ashamed of. You're a vampire now. You just have to learn the proper way to be one. I am going to teach you." He told her, his heart pounding from the smell of blood around them. "Now grab your things so we can leave."


	14. Chapter 14

C**hapter 14: **

Nettie followed Klaus back to the mansion. She wasn't happy at the current moment. Seeing Klaus stand around while things went boom had really hit her for some reason. She felt all icky inside. She wanted to go home and hide under the bed.

A hybrid met them at the front door and he took the hunter, who was still unconscious, from Klaus. "Take him downstairs. I'll be with our little friend shortly."

"You're back quickly." Elijah mused, greeting them by the front door. "Nettie." He nodded to his favorite blonde girl.

"Your brother has a death wish." She told him angrily. "Honestly."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "I can't die, I told you that." He eyed his brother.

"Right. Well... Maybe a break is needed? Nettie we could go down to the training room and spar a little?" He asked her, hoping they would get some alone time. It had been a long while since they had a chance to talk.

* * *

Damon threw Leila through the air. She landed hard on the dirt floor, missing a tree by mere inches. "Ouch!" She said, rubbing her butt as she climbed up. "You throw hard!"

"You're a vampire. That couldn't have hurt that much."

"So you're saying if I hit you hard enough that it wouldn't hurt?" She raised her brow, knowing he was lying. Of course it hurt, it would just heal quickly.

"Would you like to test that theory," he teased. "You wouldn't hit me. You wouldn't even try."

"Oh I wouldn't?" She asked him, smirking. She moved as fast as she could towards him, Punching him hard right in the face. His body actually flew backwards, hitting a large white elm tree behind him. He hit the dirt floor with a crash. "Shit! Damon are you alright?" She asked, not realizing how hard she had punched him. She hurried over to the man and got on her knees beside him. "Damon?"

He moved fast, pinning her to the ground roughly. "That. Hurt." He admitted, smirking.

Leila breathed heavily under his weight. "I told you it hurts." Damon stared down at the girl, unable to move.

He hadn't thought of Elena in a long while. Helping her only when he had to. When Leila had been under the water, trapped in that truck he had thought of nothing else. He saved her first. When he thought she had died he couldn't breathe. How could he just be seeing all this now?

"Damon!" She murmured, pushing on him. "Get off!"

He heard her, but he almost didn't want to move away from her. He rolled away and they lay breathing heavily, looking up through the dense canopy of trees. "I think that should be it for the day." He told her, he had to think on all this.

* * *

Nettie kicked Elijah hard, pushing him away. She moved back and took a breather, putting her arms up again. They had used her magic enough and now that they felt it was time, Elijah was showing her how to fight. She may not always be able to use magic. At least he seemed to think so.

Nettie was almost positive she was stronger even without the fighting. They had been at this for at least two hours and she was getting tired.

Elijah rushed at her, crossing the room in a blink of an eye. He threw a fist at her, but she caught his hand in her palm. Nettie made to elbow him, but was unsuccessful. Elijah gripped her wrist and pinned her hand over her head. She had sweat dripping from her forehead.. And for some reason it only made her smell stronger then normal.

He had a hard time continuing at the realization of that small but huge fact. She breathed heavily as she watched for what he would do next.

Elijah looked back at the small blondee, unable to think straight. He moved for her neck, running his nose along her pulse line. "Uh.. Elijah?" She muttered awkwardly. But it was like he couldn't hear her at all.

He felt his fangs aching in his gums, willing themselves to grow out over his canine teeth. The small familiar black veins forming under his eyes. It wasn't often he was unable to control himself. But here he was.. A child once again.

"Elijah!" She stammered again.

He closed his eyes, concentrating on keeping himself collected. Nettle always seemed to cloud his better judgement. He looked up at her, taking a breath in. How long would they do this?

He could hear Nettle's heartbeat loud in his ears, and he could do nothing more than brace himself for what was to come. He tightened his grip around Nettie's wrists and brushed his lips against her jawline before pausing only a moment to breathe.

She winced a bit, tightening her muscles. She must have looked like a child not wanting to eat it's broccoli but she couldn't help it. She realized now that she had given him the wrong impression. As his lips made for hers she grew warm, hot even.

* * *

Elijah blinked rapidly as a bright light surrounded him. In seconds it was gone, and so was Nettie. She had never done that before..

* * *

There was a loud popping sound as her feet touched down on solid ground. She wasn't sure where the hell she had just been, but she knew it felt all icky. She looked around her realizing where she was. But as she turned around she immediately regretted it. "DAMON! EWW OH MY GOD! NO!" She yelled, turning back around. "Eww!"

"Well you just showed up out of thin air! What am I supposed to do? Change in the hallway? Get out!" He yelled at her, pushing her quickly out of his room and into the empty boarding house hallways. "Stay." He ordered, slamming the door behind him.

"Well how the hell am I supposed to know what the hell even just happened!" She yelled at him through the thick wooden door. "How the hell do I ever know!" Everything seemed random to her..

"Uhh, Nettie? What are you doing here?" Leila asked, closing the door to another bedroom down the hall. "And why are you two yelling at each other?"

"Something weird just happened." Nettie told her, walking towards her sister. "I just saw Damon naked!" Leila began to say something but Nettie cut her off, "First I have Elijah trying to eat my face, then POP! Here I am, naked Damon! Yelling, slamming doors." She threw her hands up in exasperation.

Leila stared at Nettie in complete shock for a moment, before saying a word. "Slow down, Nettie! You saw Damon naked?! And Elijah what?!"

"Yes, Leila, sorry I got to see it first! Really, I am." She shuddered. "But yeah, Elijah's mouth was all up in my personal space. I was really super uncomfortable. Then I went poof. Like some kind of cartoon character. The only difference is normally in a kids cartoon you don't see nudity!" She winced. "I think that is what I was trying to avoid in the first damn place."

"So you and Elijah...? Is there something going on there that I totally missed?" Leila rose a brow.

"He's a friend." Nothing more. Eww! "Then we were fighting and he basically tried to lick my mouth! Who does that. Shouldn't you ask first?" She had no idea how these things worked.

"Uh.. Not necessarily Nettie. I mean if he thought there was something there he may have just figured why not go for it." She lead Nettie to her room, and they sat on the bed. "So he was wrong?" She was confused. It was obvious from the start that Elijah was into her. But this was Nettie she was talking about.

"I don't want to kiss him, gross." She reminded her sister, as she lay back on the large four poster bed.

"Gross? Kissing isn't gross." Leila shook her head. "It's supposed to be a good thing."

"Ya well, not for me!" She had never felt the urge to kiss anyone before... "Shouldn't it come along with some sort of feelings? I don't have any feelings towards Elijah Lei." She wrinkled her nose up.

Leila thought back to the little moment she'd shared with Damon in the woods. She'd wanted to kiss him then. And yes, there had definitely been feelings. "It should. Which means, if you didn't feel anything, then you should let him know he's got the wrong idea. You can't just string him along."

"Whose stringing? No one is stringing Leila. He asked me to fight. I was hanging out with that stupid hunter and Klaus." No one was stringing, were they?

"Well, you can't just leave things hanging. He's probably wondering what happened."

"Well he isn't the only one to be fair. I had no idea he was going to do any of that. I was asked to fight not make out."

"She just wants to play kissy face with Klaus." Damon said, finally dressed and standing in the doorway smirking. "You like them mean don't you blondeie?"

She sat up straight in the bed and looked right at him, "Yah well you like them not interested so what's that say about you?"

Leila sighed. Nettie and Damon had such a strange love-hate relationship. One minute they got along, the next they bickered. It was never a dull moment with the two of them. At least not lately.

"You think Klaus even knows you exist other than as a pawn in his stupid army?" Damon said, sneering at her. "You are a bigger idiot then I thought."

"Damon!" Leila snapped, "What the hell has gotten into you?"

He knew what had gotten into him. Once again he liked a person he couldn't have. He destroyed every single good thing in his life. Why not worsen it.

"I don't like Klaus. I don't like Elijah! I like MYSELF!" She screeched, climbing off the bed. She shot a ball of light at him, hitting the doorway a few feet away on purpose. "Don't forget I can kill you dummy." She spat, storming out of the room.

* * *

"So she just disappeared?" Rebekah asked, curious as to how the little blonde girl was capable of so many amazing things. Maybe she should befriend the strange creature?

"I shouldn't have been so... Out of control. I may have scared her away for good." He mumbled, sitting in the chair next to her.

Rebekah put a hand on the back of the chair. "Well, brother, I'm sure if it's meant to be, she'll come around sooner or later."

Klaus sat back listening in on their conversation but adding nothing. He felt giddy inside but was it about all this? Or about the hunter in their basement? He wasn't sure yet.

* * *

Nettie stood in the woods outside the boarding house, trying her best to pop again like earlier. But the more she tried, the angrier she got with Damon. Why would he say things like that? Based on nothing at all!

"You look like you are going to soil yourself." Damon grinned, jumping up onto a rock nearby to watch her. "You're all squinty."

"Shut up!" She snapped, "I'm trying to go poof!" She really needed a better way to say that. But for now it would have to do. "What do you even want?"

He sighed, "I came to apologize. I realize now that I was being an asshole."

"Leila sent you." She asked. Knowing the answer already.

"She asked me to talk to you, yes. But she didn't ask me to apologize." He lied.

"Since when do you act nice?" Nettie asked, raising a brow. Except when he wanted something.

"Since Leila asked me to," he said, crossing his arms. "She's listening. Just say you forgive me so I can get some rest from your sister's incessant nagging."

"But I don't forgive you." She just didn't forgive most people, ever. That was how she was. "But you can tell her I do. I am sure she will believe you if you lie really well." Nettie knew Leila would know the truth, but she thought it might be funny if he tried to lie. At least for her. "You like her don't you? I heard you were all cry baby broody man when she died on the bridge." She said, deciding to taunt him instead.

Damon narrowed his eyes at Nettie. "She was dead. You wouldn't cry for one of your friends if they were dead in your arms?"

"You two weren't exactly friends though, were you? No.. I think you want to make out with my sister. Gross." She stuck her tongue out. "To bad she isn't Elena huh?" She pressed another one of his buttons, hoping it would make him go away.

"No, she isn't Elena. If she was she would be head over heels for my lame brother." He whined. "Elena and I are just friends."

"Riiiggghhhttt." She rolled her eyes. "Friends. Friends who make googly eyes at each other." She knew they hadn't in a while but it didn't much matter. They had. "But she chose Stefan, so to bad."

Damon shook his head, "You told me to get over it. So I did."

"Just like that."

"Not just like that. It was hard." He sighed.

She could tell he wasn't lying.. And she was sort of beginning to feel bad.. Not something she was used to feeling. But there it was, sympathy or whatever. "You do like her though.. Leila I mean. Just don't fuck it up or else you are going to have to deal with me." He knew what that meant. At least she hoped he did. Because she wasn't lying.

Damon smirked. "I'm 173 years old. I know how to handle women, especially emotional red-heads."

"Do you? I heard some things about a certain doppelganger that may lead me to believe you're lying." Katherine had lead him on for 146 years.

"Katherine was using me. I see that now. I won't screw up again, blondeie." Why was he making promises to her? Did he actually think he might be into Leila?


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

"I cannot believe you talked me into this Damon. I hate you so much." Nettie grumbled, pulling on a stupid set of old hand-made wings. If she was being honest, they were shiny. But she hated the idea of being a faerie for a stupid Halloween dance she didn't care about at all.

"Stop whining, Twinkle Belle, it's for your sister anyway." He lied, really it was for his amusement.

"Oh my god Damon. Why?" Leila said, joining them in the living room. She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. It had been a while since they had talked about all this and she figured they had ruled it all out. This was a bit cruel.

"Because it's a Halloween party, and when you attend a Halloween party, you have to dress up."

Leila gave him a sidelong glance and a loud sigh, which he read as her telling him that was not what she'd meant by 'Why?'.

Leila eyed Damon's vampire costume up and down, her eyes straying to the large top hat atop his head. She gave him a lopsided grin. "That looks ridiculous on you in a good way," she commented.

"Yes I do like nice." He said, ignoring her sarcasm.

"You look stupid with the hat." Nettie said, telling her own truth.

* * *

It was loud, bumping and thumping all around them as they entered. Leila's ears ached at sound of the loud music blasting and echoing off the walls. The strobe lights made her nervous, and she found herself slowing to a halt only a foot into the room. She wanted to turn around. She could smell everyone in the room, hear their heartbeats so clearly. She wanted to feed on something so very badly.

Leila took a step backwards, into Damon's chest. She jumped slightly and looked at him over her shoulder. "We need to go," she said. She could feel the aching of her gums, the feeling she got whenever she was getting hungry.

"We can go." Nettie said, grabbing Leila's arm and trying to leave. But Damon stopped her almost instantly.

"We are staying. Leila needs to do this." He told her.

"Maybe we should start with a smaller crowd," Leila told him. "I want to feed on everyone here." She closed her eyes, trying to block the sounds of heartbeats from her mind. That was practically impossible, she realized all too quickly.

"That's exactly why we're following through with this," Damon put his hand on the small of Leila's back and urged her forward, motioning Nettie to go on with a cock of his head. "You're going to learn self-control tonight, Red." He snapped the lacey choker around Leila's neck and she glared daggers at him over her shoulder as they moved into the mass of swaying, sweaty bodies.

Nettie sat by herself, watching from the stairs. Head on her hand.

* * *

Leila and Damon had practiced her self control on a few people. She did fairly well in Damon's eyes, but Leila felt no more comfortable in her own skin than she had that morning.

She wiped the blood off her lips with the shredded sleeves of her vampire mistress costume and looked to Damon. "Is it supposed to feel this way?" She grinned nervously. They stood in the small bathroom at some random person's house.

Leila couldn't help but wonder who would offer their house up like this? Who cleaned it all up? Why was this tempting to someone? She would never know.

"Exhilarating?" he asked. His blue eyes almost looked neon in the strange fluorescent bathroom lighting.

"I want more," she whined, reaching for the door handle. But he stopped her.

"You've had enough for the night." He said, smirking, brushing her auburn hair away from her face and tucking a lock behind her ear. She was beautiful like this.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, glaring back at him nervously. Like she always did. She knew she liked the idiot, but after what he had done she figured their chance of ever being anything more then this had ended. But now, with him looking down at her like this, she wasn't so sure. "Your looking at me all funny!" She stuttered slightly, her cheeks turning hot.

Damon reached down and put his hand on her neck, bringing her closer to him. Then he kissed her. Leila was shocked, but she didn't seem to care anymore. He pressed her against the bathroom door.

His arms came around her waist and she could feel his abs through their clothes, smell the iron on his breath. She couldn't help herself. She wanted him even closer. Leila's breath hitched in her throat as he deepened the kiss. She moved her hands to his silky hair and knotted her fingers in it.

She could feel her fangs drop and moved away worriedly, trying to cover her mouth in embarrassment.

Damon reached up taking her hand away. Then he did something she was not expecting. He leaned down and bit into his wrist, offering it up to her. His eyes clouded as he waited for her approval.

Leila stared at the blood trickling down his arm before taking his hand. She looked to his eyes, looking for a sign that told her it was alright. He smiled. Leila closed her eyes, licking the blood from his wrist as she wrapped her lips around it.

She bit down into his skin and stumbled, and they fell back against the wall. Damon put his hand to the back of her head and pulled her close, closing his eyes, breathing heavily as she drank from him. This was a good sign that maybe, just maybe she liked him back. Although he didn't exactly explain what it meant to vampires. But he would.. Soon.

* * *

Nettie pulled her phone from her purse when she heard it go off. She hadn't seen Leila and Damon anywhere for a while and she was more than welcome to answer her phone to anyone who called. "Hello?"

It was Klaus. "Nettle, love, I've been trying to get a hold of Damon for quite some time now. He isn't answering his phone. Would you tell him we need him at my place? We're going to question the hunter."

"How did you get this number?" Was all she could think to say.. Ignoring his question.

"Elijah was kind enough to share it with me. You seem surprised."

"Surprised that you use a phone like regular people or surprised because your brother would give YOU my phone number? Both." She muttered, rolling her eyes as her sister and Damon made their way out of the bathroom.

Wait... Why were they in the bathroom together?

"Is something the matter, Nettle? You've gone quiet." Klaus said on the other line.

"Nothing. Just.. I'll tell them." She said distracted, ending the call without a goodbye. Nettie stood up quickly and hurried down to the dance floor, meeting with Damon and Leila near the exit.

"Nettie," Leila said. "We're ready to go when you are." Nettie could see something wild in her sister's eyes. Like she was slowly coming down from a high, or something similar.

"You two were making out." She said, a bit angry that she was left to do nothing while they were off in Vampire kissy land.

Leila opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know how to answer her friend. "Uh, we..." Leila started tapping her foot on the floor.

Nettie glanced down to it, then back to Leila's face. "Really? I hate this stupid place and you guys are off having all the fun!"

Damon smirked, "You could have had some fun. Plenty of willing dance partners here, I'm sure."

"Damon! That's Nettie you're talking to... " She leaned in to whisper in his ear, "She's never been kissed."

"NEITHER HAVE YOU!" Nettie said loudly.

Leila turned her head away, flushing from embarrassment.

"Well, she has been now," Damon told the blonde. He looked to Leila but she didn't acknowledge the glance.

"Klaus." Nettie said, blinking as she tried to process this vampire stealing her sister. She stared at them blankly.

"What about him, Twinkles?" Damon rose a brow.

"He.. He wants us to go over to his place. Talk about the hunter." She climbed off the steps. "Like now."

* * *

The trio arrived at the Mikaelson estate half an hour later. There had been a bit of awkwardness in the car on their way back to town, but they got to the mansion soon enough.

Leila was the first out of the car, unbuckling almost the moment Damon stopped the car. The other two followed the red-head vampire to the front door.

"Oh great, you brought the whole gang." Rebekah said, smirking as she let the group inside the house. "Who is this?" She asked, looking at the red head curiously.

"We've met before.. School.. And the ball?" She said to Rebekah, a little annoyed that she didn't remember.

"Oh! Right, right.. Not a human anymore are you?" She raised a brow at Damon.

"Don't go judging now, Goldilocks." Damon walked inside.

* * *

"Holy shit! What is that?!" Nettie asked, eyes wide as she made for the hunter. He was tied up to something really neat, something that looked like a torture device.

He smiled at her as she approached it, eyes wide with wonder. "It's from the inquisition. I thought it was a nice touch."

"Did you get anything out of him?" Damon asked, ignoring her.

"Not enough. He's mum about the council fire and he's not saying anything about this "Greater Evil" we're all supposed to be shivering over." Klaus looked to the black man. "You're full of mysteries, aren't you?" Klaus sighed. "The only thing I got out of him was his name... Connor."

The hunter narrowed his eyes. "I told you, I don't know anything." He struggled in his bindings.

"Thankfully, I know plenty." Klaus grinned. "Shall we?"

"What's the Five?" Leila asked, hoping there was a good reason why they hadn't just gotten rid of Connor yet.

"So many questions." Klaus said, "This is why we tied him up. For answers."

"The brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters. We crossed paths with them in the 12th century, Italy." Klaus began to go through the motions. "My siblings and I had followed the Normans as they captured the South. Feeding, and turning people as we went. But with the bloodshed came exposure. There was a group of five vampire hunters, revealing the existence of our kind, making a spectacle of their deaths in front of the townsfolk."

He made sure that Connor could hear him as he continued, "Rebekah was to gather intel on these hunters who made a show of themselves for sport. Unfortunately for her, she fell head over heels for one of the Five... Alexander I think his name was. When he learned of her being a vampire he tried to kill her. Lucky for us, he told her about the sword that translated the tattoo across his chest and arm that was a map that led to the cure."

"The cure to what?" Nettie asked, pulling a sparkly wristband off her arm. "A cure to being a dick and killing people?" She trailed her eyes to the hunter.

"The cure to vampirism," Klaus said, grinning.

"There's a cure?" Nettie scrunched her nose. "Who would want that?" Who would give up being awesome?

"Rebekah for one," Klaus replied.

"Elena for another," Damon said as well.

"Really Damon? Did you ask her?" Nettie snapped. "I think this is all a bad idea. If the wrong person got their hands on that cure who knows which one of you biters would be in danger. Nope. I think we need to kill him and move on."

"Killing one of the five isn't in our best interest," Klaus told them. "Getting someone we don't care about to kill him is a far better choice."

"Well, whatever we decide to do with him, we need some more answers out of the guy first." Damon told them.

"Right. Answers.. So that we can kill him? I don't get it." Nettie said, annoyed no one had heard her.

"Answers so that we can find this cure. I need Elena alive again so that I can continue making my hybrids," Klaus told Nettle. "I think your brother would be our best bet. Explain to him how this could benefit Elena.. Get him to talk to Rebekah."

"Wait, so Rebekah knows where the sword is?" Leila asked. "And she never told you where it might be?"

"She wanted no one to touch the cure, not even me." Klaus seemed a bit upset by that.

"I'll talk to Stefan," Damon said with a wave of his hand. "Don't fret."

* * *

"So she agreed?" Nettie asked Stefan, throwing her magazine down on the table and putting her feet up. "Great."

"She said she wants a chance at it. She's tired of being a vampire." It was understandable to Stefan. To have a chance at a normal life was something some vampires missed. Children, growing old and dying.

"Boohoo." Nettie whined, "Honestly. Living forever, being super strong and fast. All the other awesome things that come along with it.. And just because you can't have kids or get wrinkly you waste your happiness feeling sorry for yourselves." She shook her head, "No thank you."

"You would understand if you were a vampire, Nettie," Stefan told her. "I understand your viewpoint, though. I really do. There was a time I felt the same way as you."

"Well yah, you can't even do regular vampire things.. Feeding off animals for hundreds of years would get old fast." She wasn't censoring right now, but she wasn't worried. Stefan was a big boy, he could handle it.

"No, I don't drink human blood like most vampires do, but I wouldn't change that. I become... a monster when I do. If I was human again, I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore."

"So you want the cure?" She asked him.

"I do," Stefan answered. "I really do. And I want it for Elena too, so she can be happy again."

* * *

"He got away." Klaus barked into his cellphone. "I gave you one bloody job and you muck it up." His hybrids were really quite useless. "I left three of you here and two of you end up dead. Now all I have left is you."

Nettie was bored as she looked around at the messy basement floor. Bits of hybrid strewn here and there. "Fine. Great. Find him or I'll make you wish you did." Klaus ended his call.

"Who cleans up around here?" She asked, curious about it. They were always dealing with someone or something attacking and trying to kill them. They must have someone on retainer?

"I'll get my hybrids to do it. We need to find Connor at the moment."

* * *

Leila picked up her cell phone as she exited the Grill. She was on her way to the Salvatore house. "Hello?" she greeted.

"The hunter got out. Klaus's minions are lame-tron." Nettie said, not even saying hello first.

Leila's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Wait, he escaped? How!?"

"You're not listening to me. Klaus's minions are crappy. They just let him get away." She grumbled. She got that way when people ignored her.

"I am listening, Nettie. I just don't understand how even lame-o minions could lose someone when he's tied up to a torture table with no possible means of escape."

"He's a hunter. He's got like.. Super hunter strength or something. How the heck should I know? All I know is he got out, so be careful." She ended the call with a click.

Leila didn't exactly plan on being by herself with that news. She'd been on her way to meet up with Damon, anyway. She made her way to the parking lot, towards the beater car. It was pretty dark out, but she felt safer these days.

That is until someone jumped out from behind her and stuck something into her neck. But she really hadn't much time to consider her poor decision because everything around her went blank.

* * *

Nettie walked into the boarding house, dropping all her things in a loud thump onto the wood floor. Then she climbed over it and joined the group in the living room. "Heyo," she said, plopping onto the couch.

Damon looked to her expectantly, then peered into the hallway from where he stood. "Leila isn't with you? She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago," he told the blonde.

"I was on the phone with her not too long ago. Last I know, she was at the Grill."

"Then where the hell is she?" He asked, getting a bit angry.

Nettie noticed a look of genuine worry on Damon's face. "You tell me. I was with Klaus trying to deal with the escape." She told him.

"The Hunter. What if he's got Leila?" Elena asked.

"But why would he-" She stopped a minute. They had brought her to Klaus's the night before. He knew she was one after that... She was vulnerable.

"She's a vampire," Damon said. "A new one. She doesn't know how to defend herself." He headed out the room, grabbing his coat. "We have to find her."

"Ugh. Fine. But I don't get why you let her go there ALONE!" Nettie was super tired. But it was her best bud, so she had to go. Sleepy or no.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

"This is ridiculous." Nettie whined. "We aren't going to find her.. Connor isn't an idiot. She could be dead by now." And then they would just have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off for hours.

"Don't talk like that," Damon scolded. "She's not dead."

"Okay well, dead or not we have no leads." Nettie knew she was right whether or not Damon was upset. She was upset to but what was there left to do?

"Bonnie." Elena said out of the blue. "We can get Bonnie to do a tracking spell."

"We need something that belongs to her," Damon said, turning to look at Nettie as if she had something on hand.

"What? You think I just carry her stuff around with me?" Nettie hid her hand behind her back.

"She told me you take her jewelry, refuse to give it back. Hand over the goods blondie." Damon said, reaching for her hand.

Nettie grumbled as Damon snatched her hand and pulled a bracelet off her wrist. "I really wanna hurt you, you know that don't you?" She squinted at him angrily.

"Yeah, well, save it for later, when your sister isn't in danger."

"Whatever. I get that back after."

"I'm off to see Bonnie. You guys keep looking." Damon rushed off in the direction of the witch's house.

* * *

Leila groaned as she sat up. She found herself in a dark room, alone. "Hello?" she called. She felt sick to the stomach. "Anyone there?" She wrestled with the bindings, holding her down. But there was no use.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Leila could make out rows of books around her. Like a library of some kind.

"Shut up!" Connor yelled, approaching her. He backhanded her across the face roughly.

"Connor!" a second voice came. "She's no use to us dead. We need to lure in the strange girl."

"I thought you brought me here to kill vampires. Why are you sending me out of my way to catch some.. Blond human." Connor said, moving away from Leila towards the voice.

"He'll be interested to know there's someone like her here. She's different, odd." The man moved in the shadows. "You can kill the vampire after we've got Nettle Maxwell in our grasp."

As the two argued Leila felt her bonds loosening. She shimmied hard under them until one hand slipped free. She kept it there, behind her back and waited for Connor to come back again.

"I'll keep an eye on her, then," Connor told the other man.

"Good. I'll be back in a bit." The hidden face walked out a door to her left.

Connor leaned over her, uncomfortably close. "You're lucky I'm answering for him, bloodsucker, or you'd be long turned to ashes by now."

Leila narrowed her eyes. "I doubt it."

Connor chuckled, the sound deep and dark. "You sound so sure of yourself."

Before Connor could stand straight, Leila grabbed his hair with her freed hand and yanked his head down so her fangs could meet the flesh of his neck. Leila drank in the warm, red liquid and snapped his neck when she had had her fill. She kicked the hunter onto the floor and stood from the chair.

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. The blood of the hunter made her feel so strong, like she was bursting with energy. Leila recalled the other man said he was to return shortly and she ran off.

* * *

Nettie found herself at the Mikaelson mansion. She couldn't figure out exactly why she was there, but something in the back of her mind had told her to check in on Klaus.

The Original was standing at the bottom of the stairs, walking up to her. "Nettie? Have you figured out where the hunter went?"

"He's got Leila," she told him. "But we have no idea where."

Klaus rose his eyebrows. "Well, that's a bit of a problem. I guess now you will have more of a reason to look for him." He almost sneered at her. He needed everyone on his side to get the hunter back. Once the cure was his he would destroy it.

"Damon's on his way to Bonnie's house to have her use a tracking spell to find Leila." She didn't enjoy his tone. He didn't trust many people but she had hoped that he was starting to trust her. Apparently she was wrong. Klaus was just Klaus. Alone and afraid. "I hope she kills that son-of-a-bitch hunter and shows him a lesson."

"You don't want her to do that."

"Of course I do. The guy's a dick." She shook her head.

"No, Nettle. If you kill one of the Five, you're cursed until a new Hunter is made to take the dead one's place. If Leila were to kill Connor, she'd have to suffer with hallucinations until a new Hunter is brought to life."

"Why didn't you say that before?" She snapped suddenly.

"That doesn't matter now. What matters is we find the hunter before that happens. I need him alive, and you need to find your sister sane. Let's get a move on, shall we love? Won't hurt to keep looking until the witch gets back to us with a location."

* * *

Leila was covered in blood as she stumbled towards the boarding house. She had killed someone and at the time it had been the right thing to do. But now she was beginning to feel differently. Maybe she could have tied him up or something?

She felt herself turn the knob to the large wooden door, pushing her way inside. "Nettie." She mumbled, looking around wildly. "Damon?" She smacked her hand down hard on the solid wood molding that framed in the living room. "Someone?"

"Leila!" Elena said, running towards the bleeding girl. "What happened?" She asked, hoping that Leila would know where the Hunter was.

"Connor... " She said, Elena taking her towards the kitchen. "I killed him."

"Oh my gosh..." Elena parted her lips in surprise, then reached into her pocket as her cell phone went off. "Just hang on one sec okay?" She asked Leila. "Damon?" she paused as he spoke on the other line. "I know, I just found her bleeding in the entryway of your house."

Elena got up and hurried out of the room, coming back a minute later with a damp towel. "Here," she said to Leila as she put her phone away. "Damon's on his way."

Leila took the towel and stared at it a moment before wiping the blood off her mouth and her wrists, "Nettie." She said again. "We need to warn her."

* * *

Nettie, Klaus, Damon and Stefan made it to the boarding house around the same time. Damon was the first to rush to Leila's side.

"What happened?" He asked her, his eyes wide with worry as he handed her another wet towel.

"Where's Nettie?" she asked, ignoring him.

Nettie came in with Klaus almost immediately. "Lei?!" Nettie hurried over to her sister. She stopped a foot in front of her. "You didn't..."

"He's dead, isn't he?" Klaus asked Leila, a frown set deep in his face. "Bloody hell. He's dead."

"Nettie, they wanted to use me to get to you," Leila said, her eyes wild with panic. Her knuckles stood out white against her skin as she clutched the towel tightly in her hands. "Nettie, there was another guy who wanted to hurt us."

"You're talking gibberish," Nettie told her.

"You need to go lay down," Damon told Leila, peeling her fingers back from the towel. "You're freaking out." He watched her worriedly.

"You better put her under someone's direct supervision," Klaus said. "She killed one of the Five. It's only a matter of time before the hallucinations drive her to suicidal insanity." He watched the girl carefully, "But I must be going. If there is no hunter to catch then I have no need to worry over the cure." He smirked before disappearing from the kitchen, the front door to the house slamming shut.

"The hell?" Damon glared after Klaus. He looked to Nettie. "Suicidal insanity? What did he mean by that, Blondie?" he asked her. She'd been with Klaus all night. She had to know something.

Nettie frowned. "There's a curse that comes with killing a member of the Five. You'll get hallucinations, and they just get worse and worse." She waited a moment, "Think complete madness times 100."

Leila tensed beside Elena and Damon. "I feel fine," she said softly. "I'll be fine."

"You can't just say you'll be fine Lei. This curse is serious. Klaus said he suffered through it for like 52 years before another hunter was born.. This is an original vampire we are talking about." Nettie shook her head, running her hands up through her hair in frustration. "We need to find the next hunter. We have to do it before you turn into a character from some HP Lovecraft book."

Leila stood up and shook her head. "Stop worrying about me. If Klaus could deal with it, so can I. I'll be fine." In reality, she was scared, scared so much she didn't want anyone else to know.

"Right." Nettie sighed, "Why do I feel like the sane one right now? This is unusual." She grumbled. "If you think you can handle this.. Then good luck with that." She was upset with Leila for not taking the situation seriously. This was bad, very bad. They had to find the next hunter, fast.

* * *

Damon and Nettie whispered in the hallway outside Leila's room as the girl slept off the day. They both agreed that this was a lot worse then Leila was making it out to be.

"I know it's Jeremy we just have to figure out how to activate his curse. If we talk to Klaus I think we can figure this out." Damon whispered.

"You mean you want me to talk to Klaus." She raised her brow. "I told you I am not into him. Why you think I am is beyond me." She knew deep down she didn't really know her feelings towards him. One day he was nice the next untrusting and secretive. "You go talk to him. I'm exhausted!" She let her hands fall loudly to her sides before she left Damon alone to deal with this problem. She hadn't slept in a few days and it was starting to catch up to her.

Damon watched after Nettie as she walked down the hall, towards a spare bedroom. He knew Nettie was their best tool to getting help from Klaus, whether she liked that fact or not. Klaus never made her commit to deals. He usually just helped her, no strings attached... Usually.

Damon went to leave the boarding house, to the Mikaelson mansion to talk to Klaus. Nothing at the moment was going to convince Nettie that a conversation with Klaus was more important than sleep, especially when Leila was so adamant that she was going to be alright.

* * *

Leila woke up with a start, sitting upright in bed. Her heart was pounding so hard, it felt as if it would rip from her chest. She looked to her bedroom door, wide-eyed.

"Dad?" she asked. Earl sat crossed legged across from her in the large comfy chair by the window. Billows of smoke fell from his lips as he stared back at her. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Ain't you supposed to be dead girlie?" He asked her, his voice gravelly and low.

"Dead?" she frowned. "Damon saved me," she told him, swallowing. Why was her dad here?

"You ain't saved. You turned into one of those.. Monsters our family been killin' for decades. Ain't much livin' involved in that." He shook his head, shifting his hat.

"Dad, why are you here?" She felt a lump rising in her throat. She hated this man. Why would he come to judge her? "You shouldn't be here."

"Look who's talking." He leaned forward angrily. "You shouldn't be here. It ain't right Leila. What would your mother say?" The colors of his eyes swirled from brown to red, back and forth. Like some sort of ghostly figure.

Leila stood up out of the bed, grabbing the first coat she found, slung over a little stool. She slipped it on, covering up her gown. "Get out!" He had no right bringing up her mother. And he had no right telling her she wasn't supposed to exist anymore.

"You're just like your father. Running from what is important. Death ain't something to run from Leila. There is so much more on the other side. But you'll figure that out soon enough."

Leila frowned, anger boiling inside her. She'd had enough. She felt her tears spilling over. "Leave me alone!" Leila exclaimed, dashing out of the room and out the Boarding House at vampire speed.

* * *

Damon approached the Mikaelson mansion. It was really late, but he didn't have any other option, but to bug the grumpy Niklaus. Now he'd just be even more irritable. Great.

Damon knocked, and it took a minute before someone answered. Rebekah sneered at him.

"The hell are you doing here this time of night? Some of us are working up on our beauty sleep you know," Rebekah told Damon, frowning deeply.

"I need to talk to Klaus. We have a hunter problem, and he just up and left before we could get any answers." Damon crossed his arms. Are you going to let me in or do I have to force myself inside?"

"What do I get if I give away all my secrets?" Klaus interrupted, making his way down the staircase.

"And you see?" Damon rolled his eyes. "This is exactly why I wanted Nettie to come in my place. No little deals, no secret arrangements."

"I would say the same thing to her. All of your little friends hanging around us all the time, getting help.. If you all want answers, you will owe me. No exceptions." He couldn't keep giving the girl special treatment. He hadn't meant to anyways.. She just happened to be useful to him. He told himself daily that that was all she was to him; useful.

"Listen Klaus. You know what's going to happen to Leila. You told Nettie yourself. Jeremy's seeing the tattoos. He's the next hunter. You just need to tell us how to actually make him one of the Five, and I'll leave you alone. Simple, right?" Damon smirked.

"You don't make the deals here. If Jeremy turns then I will need access to him. That's the deal. Take it or leave it, I could care less." Klaus crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at Damon.

Damon growled softly. "Fine. Now, tell me how this works."

"He has to kill a vampire." He shrugged. "If as he said, he saw the tattoo then he should be the next hunter."

* * *

Nettie yawned, climbing out of the ridiculous four poster bed. She couldn't help but think each bedroom was filled with useless items. A person didn't need all this. But going back home was starting to feel lonely. And Leila's mother was acting funny these days. Almost as if Nettie was no longer welcome as long as Leila was gone.

She could hear the beeping from her phone, ignoring it as she showered in the large full bathroom. She what felt like ten knobs before she actually got hot water. Nothing about this damn house made her feel happy. Soon she would need to get her own place. There was no other option.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

Leila found herself in front of the Mystic Grill, shaking, crying, hugging herself tight. She felt hysterical. "Go away," Leila cried. "Everyone, please just leave me alone. I don't wanna die." She covered her face in her hands.

"All you're doing is causing everyone around you heartbreak, Lei." Nettie said. "You're hurting me. All that's come of you turning is stress, pain and troubles."

"I never meant to hurt you!" Leila cried out.

* * *

Damon showed back up at the Boarding House, knocking on Nettie's door. "Get up! We need to kill someone." He yelled, pushing the door open. But Nettie wasn't there. "Dammit!" He snapped, slamming the door again.

Damon stepped into the living room, where Elena was sitting up with Stefan in front of the fireplace. "Where's Jeremy?" Damon asked suddenly.

"Why? What do you want with Jere?" Elena asked, looking over at Damon quizzically.

"He needs to kill a vampire to stop the Hunter's Curse," Damon told them. "Get Jeremy and I'll supply the vampire." Stefan grabbed his phone and started dialing.

"Why do we need a vampire?" Nettie asked, joining them in the living room. She had her hands filled with little animal cookies. "What's going on?" She had been raiding the kitchen for at least half an hour.

"Jeremy's the next person in line to become one of the Five. To make that happen, he needs to kill a vampire."

"Do we want Jeremy to become part of the five?" Elena asked, a worried look on her face. "I dunno Damon.. There could be another way."

"No." Nettie shook her head. "I think if there was then Klaus would have told you." She eyed Damon. She really didn't give a shit if there was another way. This was the fastest way. "Unless I could fix her. But I don't think my magic stretches that far." Not that she had any idea. Maybe she was feeling a bit selfish this time.

Doing magic made Nettie tired. She felt it in her bones, a sleepiness that called to her. Maybe just this once she could get a pass. Next time she would try.

* * *

Damon met Jeremy and Stefan in front of the Grill. Damon held a limp body in his arms. He dropped the body to the ground at Jeremy's feet. "She'll wake up any minute now. Stake her and get this all over with."

"You're awfully snappy tonight," Jeremy muttered. "Besides.. You don't know this girl and you just killed her. This all doesn't feel right Damon." He shook his head, handing the stake back to Damon. "No."

"If you don't then Leila will go insane. You want that?" He asked.

"It was her choice to kill the hunter. Why should this girl die because of that?" Jeremy was not into killing random innocent people.

"Jeremy.. This girl is going to wake up. When she does she will be hungry. She will kill other innocent people. Kill her and save Leila." Damon tried to convince him.

Stefan looked to his brother, a little surprised. He wanted to say something, but decided not to. Now wasn't the time. He looked to Jeremy. "He's right. It's too late to save the girl now." He may not fully agree with his brother's actions. But Damon had already followed through.

The girl at Jeremy's feet stirred. She groaned, sitting up.

"Jeremy!" Damon's eyes met the Gilbert boy's. "Do it!"

Jeremy looked at the stake in his hand, then down at the vampire. He rose his hand, frowning, then drove the wood through the girl's heart.

* * *

Leila turned. She couldn't take it anymore. She'd thought she could handle the curse, but it was impossible.

"You know it's the right thing to do," Connor said to her. "You know you should kill yourself."

Leila's bottom lip trembled. "Stop it..." she whined softly.

"Leila, you..." Connor's image vanished in front of her.

Leila blinked. She turned her head quickly, spinning on her heel to look around herself. It was quiet. No one was there. Leila could actually feel a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

Leila fell to her knees in the dirt. "Is it over?" she asked herself.

* * *

Damon and Nettie stood impatiently in the hall of the Boarding House. The rest of the gang had convinced them to come back home. If Leila would show up anywhere, it'd be there.

It had been almost half an hour since Jeremy had killed the vampire. It had to have worked. Jeremy could see a tattoo on his arm. He was one of the Five.

The front door slowly opened, and Damon stood straight, looking anxiously to see who was coming in. He and Nettie had already been disappointed by Caroline's arrival a few minutes after their return.

Leila stood in the door frame, looking up at Nettie and Damon. Her cheeks were streaked from tears.

"Lei!" Nettie exclaimed. "Where the hell were you?" Leila hurried over to her sister and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"I was so scared!" Leila cried. "I knew it wasn't real, but everyone was telling me I wasn't supposed to exist anymore... I wanted to just end it." Leila looked up to Damon, who was watching her with concerned eyes.

"But you're okay now? No more hallucinations?" he asked.

Leila took a step back from Nettle. "No more hallucinations," she said.

* * *

One week later:

Nettie had been thinking more and more about her future as her 18th birthday grew nearer. Leila and Nettie would be graduating soon and nothing was planned. She was nervous about so many things, things that would change.

What was Leila going to do now that she was a vampire? Was she planning on going to college? Exploring the world? Did she want to do things with Nettie like they had always talked about growing up?

No, things were different now. Nettie could feel it. Leila and Damon weren't dating but they had grown closer over the past few weeks. Soon Nettie was sure they would become something more then just friends who couldn't admit their feelings to each other.

Nettie sighed, flipping through her emails. As per usual she had five emails all from the adoption agency. For about a year they had been spamming her inbox. Every few months Nettie would select them all and hit delete. She didn't need to hear that her adoption had fallen through or that her parents wanted her back. But now that she was so close to her independence she didn't feel so afraid.

Dear Nettie Maxwell:

Mystic Falls adoption society wishes to extend their best wishes on becoming an adult citizen. Soon you will be out on your own.

It is unknown why we have not been able to get in contact with Holly Maxwell or yourself but it was requested that on your eighteenth birthday that we do so. Upon turning eighteen you must pay a visit to the law offices of Germaine and Wright. Contact info included below.

We wish you the best of luck on your life out in the world.

Mystic Falls Secretary of internal adoption affairs

Candice Frost

Nettie sighed, she wasn't sure what waited for her at the law office, but maybe if it held some idea of why she had been placed up for adoption then maybe it would be worth it. She would have to figure all this out sooner or later, right?

* * *

Jeremy and Damon had been training in the middle of nowhere for a few weeks. But with each kill he barley grew much of the map they all required to find the cure. They were all getting rather bored waiting for something so big.

Nettie was happy enough to destroy the cure along with Klaus. This was a big reason why she was happy they sided with him on their little adventure. Stefan wanted the cure for Elena but if Nettie had anything to do with it, Elena wouldn't be human anytime soon. It wasn't personal. But if someone got their hands on it then who knew what would happen?

* * *

"Well Klaus had the sword. But Kol still wants to murder you so maybe leaving here isn't the best idea right now little Gilbert." Damon said, shoving his phone into his pocket.

"How else can we get the cure if I am stuck here unable to kill vampires?" Jeremy asked him. He needed to save his sister. It was all he could think of these days.

"I have a master plan... I always do," Damon gave Jeremy a cocky grin. "Patience."

* * *

Nettie grumbled to herself ask she walked around the giant house by herself. It was her birthday and she was all alone. Leila was out meeting Damon and Jeremy out at the cabin. Elena was off with Stefan, helping Klaus with Kol. The only two people Nettie could spend her day with were Caroline and Bonnie. But she didn't really feel the need to party.

She had made an appointment with the law office and couldn't help but feel nervous about it. She didn't need anyone around her to make it worse. She could do this.

She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She wondered if she should have told Leila about the letters she had gotten. But until she could be sure everything was alright she would keep it to herself.

She hadn't purchased her own car just yet so she was stuck taking the bus. It meant she had to leave much earlier to get there. But once she finally got to the small family owned law office she was bang on time.

* * *

Leila pulled up next to the cabin Elena had given her directions to. She killed the engine of the beater car and climbed out, looking around the immediate area for any sign of Damon, Matt or Jeremy. She hurried to the front door and knocked. Jeremy answered, smiling. "Leila, what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Just checking up on you guys. Three men in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere can get boring, right?" she asked. She looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, right, come on in," Jeremy said, stepping aside.

Leila entered the Gilbert's cabin. She had to admit, the place was gorgeous. It was a nice little place for secret vampire hunter training.

Matt was sitting on the couch, watching television. He greeted Leila with a smile as she passed, searching for Damon. They hadn't spoken in a while and she wondered if she had done something to upset him.

Mostly he seemed worried about her when something happened to her. But when nothing was wrong he avoided her. She was sure it was because of their little make out session back at the rager. But what she didn't know was what it had meant to him? Was she just filler after Elena? Or was what happened scary to him? She wasn't sure how long she could wait to figure it out.

"Damon?" she called, as she approached a room with an open door. "Damon you in here?" Leila stepped into a bedroom. She found a leather jacket tossed on the end of the bed. "Damon?" Leila found the walk-in closet door open, the light on inside.

Damon was bent looking through his bags. "What are you doing here?" He asked her, his tone a bit annoyed. But he pulled on a black fitted shirt and followed her out into the room. "Jeremy isn't exactly up for company Leila."

Leila furrowed her brow, frowning. "Why are you being such an ass?" she asked.

"This is me, not really a surprise Leila." He muttered, grabbing his jacket and heading for the front door. Once they were on the porch he felt a little calmer.

Leila crossed her arms. "I'm confused... Help me out here, because I thought you and I were friends... You're acting like I don't mean anything to you anymore... Just the other week, you seemed to care." She tapped her foot on the wooden porch.

Damon definitely remembered what had happened. He couldn't seem to forget it. But there was nothing here for him. He wasn't like Stefan, there wasn't a girl out there who would ever really love him. He was meant for one night stands. He didn't know what to say to her at this point.

"What? You won't even answer me now? You know I wanted nothing more than what happened back in that stupid bathroom you idiot. I forgave you for everything." She breathed heavily, "If it didn't mean anything to you that's fine but I need to know that Damon. We aren't five years old here."

Damon felt his face grow hot with anger as he turned to look at the girl, "You think I don't want it?" He asked her. "But I don't deserve it. I am not a good man Leila. Just because I do a few nice things doesn't change who I am."

Leila dropped her hands to her side. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Damon..." she sighed, but there was something else in her tone. She moved towards him, putting her arms around his waist, placing her head on his chest. "Damon please... Don't push me away." She hated what had to be said next but it needed to be, "I'm not Katherine. I'm not Elena. Please don't act as if you know what I would do. If this is something then I promise I won't be going anywhere. No lies."

Damon sighed, his hands moving to hold her. He wasn't sure what he was agreeing to but he knew one thing; he cared about her.

* * *

Nettie stepped into the office, and she felt uncomfortable the moment she did. Places like this weren't places she were familiar with. She avoided governmental offices as often as she could. She and the government just didn't get along.

She approached the counter, looking to a woman in a pin-stripe suit. "Uh, Nettle Maxwell... I was told to come here? I made an appointment."

"Ah yes, Nettle." The woman typed something on her computer. "Mister Wright will take you in Room 102." She smiled, and Nettie could tell it was a fake, plastered on smile. The same smile all business people gave the mid-class people who came into their offices.

Nettie sat down awkwardly and glared at the man. He was short and fat. He had a large bald spot on the top of his head and he combed the side up to try and hide it. "So.. Miss Maxwell." He dug through a thick layer of papers, pulling a thick stack from his pile. "Ah yes, here it is."

"Here is what?" She said, folding her hands in her lap. She shook her leg nervously.

"Your one lucky girl Miss Maxwell." He said, flipping through papers.

"Am I? Who decided that?" She asked him rudely.

He raised his brow and looked back at her. "Your parents have left you quite a large sum of money Miss Maxwell."

She got up and walked towards the desk, grabbing the papers from the man. "How much money?" She scanned the pages. Her eyes widened when she saw the number. "How is this even possible? Why would my parents leave me with my adopted family if they had all this?" She demanded. She felt anger fall over her. Why had she been left behind.

"Look Miss Maxwell, I only know what is written in those documents." He pointed to the chair. "Your parents aren't alive anymore. This document is their will. Everything they owned, all the money they had in trust goes to you on your 18th birthday. That's it."

She stared at him in shock.

"In that pile you will find the deed to two properties, a large storage unit and all the banking information you will need to access this money."

"Two properties?" She repeated.

"That is what I said Miss Maxwell. One right here in Mystic Falls, the other is a property in the South." He pointed to the real estate listings. "The tax payments are made automatically every month from this account." He pointed to another paper.

"So that is it? No information on who they were? What my real name might be? Nothing?" She stammered. The houses, the storage unit, the money didn't much matter right now. She wanted to know why her parents were gone and how she was this way?


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello to all of our new followers! Hope you enjoy this one :)**

**Chapter 18:**

Leila sat on the little dock beside Damon, looking out at the lake in front of them. She was glad she'd gotten all that off her chest, and she was glad to know Damon cared. It wasn't until the sun had gone down that they heard Stefan's car coming down the driveway.

"No one seems to be able to stay away." Damon grumbled, getting up and grabbing his shoes from the dock. It wasn't often he relaxed, but with Leila it seemed a bit easier.

They made their way towards Stefan and Elena. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, Brother?" Damon asked, smirking. Leila came up behind him, putting a hand to his back.

"Oh, hey guys," Leila said, smiling. "Nettie.. What is it?" She asked her, worried. Her sister slunk towards her and handed over the stack of papers that had been burning a hole through her all the way here.

Leila frowned as she took the papers from her friend. "What is this?" she asked, looking at Nettle. "Real Estate papers?" she flipped through more of them. "Holy crap! Nettie, what's with all this money?!" She looked to her sister with wide eyes. The others around them made their way inside, leaving the two to talk on their own.

"It's mine." She said, glaring down at the papers.

Leila almost dropped the papers. She stammered. "Wh-what the hell did you just say? It's all yours?!"

"My parents left it all to me." She almost whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. Nettie never cried, but this was something she couldn't help.

Leila frowned, looking to her sister. She pulled the little blonde into her arms. "Nettie, are you okay?" she asked into her hair.

"No. In those papers it says my parents died, but they left me two years before it even happened." She whispered.

Leila hugged Nettle tighter. "It's going to be alright, Nettie. I promise... I'm so sorry."

"They left it all to me. What am I supposed to do with it all?" She asked, moving away from Leila. "How am I supposed to take all this?"

Leila shook her head. "I... I don't know, Nettie. You just... You do." She flipped through the papers, looking at everything on the list. "But this is a lot of stuff."

"No kidding. It's more then I thought we would ever have." There was no way she could spend all the money. There was no way she could use two houses. What was she supposed to do? Sell them? But what if they held secrets within their walls that were priceless?

"Have you shared this with anyone else? Mom?" Leila asked. "Don't tell Mom."

"No of course I haven't. She has been treating me awfully since you left. But this gives us options Leila. We can do whatever we want." She never once thought that she wouldn't share with her sister. The only person in her life that never let her down. They always looked out for each other and this was just a part of that.

"Look. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. But I think if you go to this house that maybe you would find some kind of answers." Leila said, running her hand over the address. "777 Primrose Lane." She said out loud.

* * *

Damon sat in the driver's seat, driving Nettie and Leila to the property in Mystic Falls that had been left for the strange, little blonde. He was probably just as curious to see if they'd find anything on Nettie's background as Leila was. He had gone researching about Nettie with Leila after all.

He pulled into a dirt driveway, going pretty far into the woods before coming up to a large, rustic cabin.

"This is it? You're sure?" Nettie asked him, not believing what they were seeing. The place was incredible. "It looks like a miniature boarding house."

"I'm sure. 777 Primrose Lane," Damon said. "That's one hell of a familiar looking house, I have to say..." he trailed off as he cut the engine. "But I'm going to leave you girls to the exploring. I'll be back in a couple hours."

Leila looked to him, a bit concerned. "You alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Just figured this is something you two should do on your own. Be careful." Damon gave her a sincere grin.

Nettie jingled her keys, nervous about what they would find inside. There was a large garage off to the side and what looked like a barn set deep in the woods. "They really liked their privacy." She said to Leila.

Leila whistled. "Sure did. You ready?"

Nettie nodded, her eyes wandering from one tree to another. The forest so thick she was sure you could get lost in it for days. This was her kind of place..

* * *

Damon pulled up to a Dive bar near close to Nettie's cabin. At least as close as it could get. Climbing out of the car, he headed towards the entrance, ready and willing to have a couple drinks to kill some time while Leila and Nettle checked out the house.

Damon walked in, making a beeline straight for the bar. Before he got even halfway into the Dive, though, he stopped.

Kol was standing at the back exit, grinning excitedly at Damon. Damon sighed loudly, then casually approached the Original. "What the hell are you doing here?" Damon asked with a not too friendly tone.

"Oh Damon, I am here to get your help." He smiled, "It seems you have hidden something from me that I need. We can't have that now can we?"

Damon held his ground, looking Kol in the eyes. "Hiding something from you?" Damon shrugged. "Sorry, but hiding is not my forte. Maybe you're thinking of my brother Stefan?" He asked, smirking.

Kol moved quickly towards Damon, ignoring the large crowd around them. That had never stopped him before.

Damon grunted as Kol grabbed him by the collar, lifting him slightly off the ground. Damon held his cocky grin, looking down at Kol. "I don't even know what you want. Why are all the Mikaelson's incapable of words!"

"You know what? If you won't give the Gilbert boy to me willingly, I'll just make my job a lot easier. You can kill him. You can be stuck with horrible hallucinations. Problem solved mate." He smacked Damon on the cheek. "Did you hear me Damon? With him dead, raising Silas will no longer be an issue." Kol's pupils dilated. "You will kill Jeremy Gilbert. Nothing will be more important to you. Do you understand?"

Damon nodded.

* * *

Nettie pushed the double doors open, creaking as they swung towards the wall. Then the two girls just stood and stared, in awe. "Holy... Whoa, Nettie. It's even bigger on the inside."

"It's got furniture." Nettie mouthed. "We have furniture." She lean on Leila's arm, trying to wake up from whatever weird dream she must be having.

The place was large and open. Everything made of either Cedar or Stone. The furniture actually matched and there were nick nacks all over the place. Nettie moved forwards, sliding her hand over a dusty white cloth. Then quickly she ripped it away from a large leather sofa.

Dust flew up into the air and she scrunched her nose. "Cool." She mumbled, looking to Leila.

"I wonder what else your parents have in here." Leila took a look at the fireplace, admiring the woodwork mixed with what seemed like river rock. "Gosh, this place is just gorgeous... And it's yours, Nettie."

"It's ours." She raised her brow at Leila.

"There's stairs." Leila said, pointing to a large wrap around staircase. "And the kitchen is most likely that way." She nudged her towards a large open door.

The kitchen was immaculate, everything in working order. but in the back of Nettie's mind all she could think about was what might be up those stairs. The two made their way upstairs, finding five closed doors and one that had been left open. They split up.

Each bedroom was just like the boarding house. Elaborate beds and unneeded chairs. On suite bathrooms that had large ridiculous showers. "Nettie!" Leila's voice rang out through the silence. "You might want to come see this!"

Nettie wandered to the room at the end of the hall. She peeked around the corner, finding Leila leaning over a wooden crib. "Nettie look." She said, pointing to a dresser to her left.

Her hands touched the metal frame, dusting off the glass. There on the bottom was a small engraving: Nettle Fern, Lindsey Fern and Blake Fern. These were her parents. Her mother had the same abnormality, her eyes both their own unique color. Her father was tall with dark hair and blue eyes. Almost like Damon in a way, but taller. She ran her fingers over their faces. "These are my parents." She said, feeling a tear fall once again, to the floor.

Leila put her arm around her sister's shoulder and pulled her close. "They are. You can finally put faces to them, Nettie." Leila smiled. "This is just wonderful."

Nettie wiped the tear away and set the photo back where she found it. "I don't know." She whispered. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. "Shouldn't Damon be back by now?" She asked.

It was starting to get dark and he was at least an hour late. The girls went down stairs and began unveiling furniture while they waited. But after another two hours of no Damon, they began to worry, "I can't get reception out here. We are to far out." Leila said, turning her phone off.

Nettie looked out the large bay window, "There has to be some option. Walking back to the road could take us at least half an hour. Then back to civilization... Who knows." Her eyes scanned the property.

Her eyes finally landed on a large locked garage. "You think there might be something in there?" She asked Leila, pointing out the window to the dark garage.

Leila shrugged. A vehicle of some type would be nice. "Maybe? No harm in looking." The girls walked out the front door, towards the garage. Nettie locked the house behind them.

She flipped through each key, trying every single one before finally getting the damn thing open. Dust hit their noses as the door swung open. "Oh my god Nettie. Is that?"

"A car." She said, making her way towards the sleek, blue impala. It was shiny and looked very new. But how was that possible? "It's a car!"

* * *

The girls drove towards the boarding house, hoping that if something had gone wrong they would get good cell reception. They wouldn't have to drive all the way back to the cabin where Jeremy was hiding out.

Upon arrival, Leila pulled out her phone and checked the bars, smiling at the result. "I'll call him," she said to Nettie.

The phone rang three times before going to voicemail. Leila hung up, frowning. They pulled into the boarding house driveway.

"What? No answer?" Nettie asked.

Leila shook her head. Stefan's car sat in front of them. She raised a brow at Nettie. "What the hell?" She asked.

"What? They came home already?" Nettie took the key from the ignition and slid it in her pocket as she and her sister got out of the car and headed inside the Salvatore's house.

"What's going on?" Leila asked Elena who sat on the large couch by herself. Her feet under her as she curled up.

"Damon's in the basement with Stefan and Klaus. Kol found him and glamored him to kill Jeremy. They are tying him up."

Leila's eyes widened at the information. "Whoa, what?" She didn't even take a minute to say anything else before zipping down the hallway, towards the basement.

"They're together aren't they?" Elena asked sadly. Watching the spot where Leila had run from.

"I think so." Nettie smiled.. "You do care for him, don't you?" She asked in return, sitting next to the eldest Gilbert.

"It's to late for that now." She muttered.

"You're right. It is."

* * *

Leila stopped by Klaus, peering over Stefan's shoulder, into the room where they had Damon. "What are you two doing?" she asked them.

"Confining him... Draining his blood so he doesn't have the strength to break out of here," Klaus said with a hint of joy in his tone.

Leila frowned, stepping towards Stefan. She grabbed his elbow. "Let me talk to him.

"No, it's not a good idea. He will just try to get out of here. For now this is what is best, trust me. It's not the first time we have had to do this." Stefan told her. He knew that Damon would only try to escape.

Leila looked at the door, biting her bottom lip. "How do we break the compulsion then?" she asked Klaus.

Stefan looked to Klaus. "I don't know... We'll figure it out sooner or later," Klaus told her. He knew the truth was that either Kol would have to fix it or he would have to die. It was the only way.

* * *

"Look Leila, it could fix all our problems. Jeremy can only kill so many vampires. And every one he has killed has done basically nothing. Not to mention if you want Damon to get better this would solve that." Stefan told her. "We can do this."

"We would need Bonnie." Elena said, texting the witch.

Leila nodded her head. "Yeah, but would could Bonnie do? Klaus is going to be mad... Like really mad. He'll try to kill everyone involved..." She sighed, "You're asking me to lie to my sister... I don't know if I can do that. I've never lied to her."

"We aren't asking you to lie. We just don't want you to tell her." Elena said, "Her and Klaus.. Whatever is going on there.. She could tell him our plan."

Leila looked to the two vampires. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"We want you to keep her busy." They couldn't have Nettie ruining their plan. At least if they were to piss of Klaus they could get the job done.

* * *

"I will trap him in this room." Bonnie said, motioning to the living room at the Gilbert house. "Once you get him in here I can do the spell. We should have about one hour to get the job done. But you have to get the sword to." She said, her eyes showing deep worry as she looked down at Elena.

"Got it. We'll have the sword," Elena told her friend.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

Kol made his way towards the Gilbert house. He was sure that they were not ready for a truce. But if that was the case he could just kill them all and get it over with. Waking Silas was not an option. His family may not be able to handle it.

Elena opened her front door, frowning at Kol. She had only just called him. Kol grinned back at her. "You'd think being alive for over a thousand years would teach me some manners." He grinned, rolling the headphone cord around his Mp3 player. "You wanted a truce? Open the door and let me in."

She glared at him, "I don't think letting you in would be the best thing for my brother."

"On the contrary, I can't kill your brother with my own two hands, or I'll suffer the hunter's curse and spend the next 20 years trying to off myself in gruesome ways." Kol told her, truthfully. "And I've heard that vervain's back in town, so I can't compel you to kill him either. So I think it's fair to say you're semi-safe, for now."

Elena's phone started beeping but she shrugged it off momentarily. She couldn't waiver from the plan, not for one second.

"Well? Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Just let him in Jere." Elena sighed, finally agreeing. "But..." She looked at Kol. "If I let you in, my brother goes. You're not getting near him."

Kol nodded. "Fair enough."

Elena looked back at Jeremy and they exchange nods as her little brother inched towards the back door.

Jeremy meets Kol's gaze. "You can come in." He bolted out into the backyard.

"No gold medals for bravery, I see. You know the thing I love about the modern age is... music, anytime you like." Kol slips his phone and headset into his jacket pocket, flashing the White Oak stake. "So... This is the part where you offer me a drink so we can have a proper chat."

* * *

Nettie had been sitting for what felt like hours next to her sister. Why Leila had wanted to take her to a dumb romance movie at the theater was beyond her. In fact she would go as far as to think it was VERY out of character.

'God I hope she doesn't figure out what is really going on.' The words echoed in Nettie's ears but she was sure her sister hadn't spoken. In fact it was clear because she was glaring at her right at that very moment. 'Elena better get the job done, fast.'

Nettie glared right back at Leila, a large dumb look on her face. What the hell was going on?

Leila shoved some popcorn in her mouth, then glanced over at Nettle when she huffed. "What is it? Why are you glaring at me?"

"Why are you glaring at me?" Nettle raised her brow like she had seen Sherlock Holmes do once or twice. She thought it was cool.

"I'm glaring? I'm not glaring." She held the box of popcorn out to Nettie. "Want some more?"

"Yes?" She continued to glare as she reached for the bag.

Leila gave her sister a smile as she took the bag and turned her attention back to the sappy movie. Had Nettie ever seen Leila watch a romance? Maybe it had something to do with Damon.

'She knows. She knows... How can she possibly know?!'

Leila was sweating a bit now as she tried her best to remain calm. But Nettie kept glaring over at her and it wasn't helping her relax. Leila took a breath and her foot instinctively started to tap on the floor as she stared ahead at the big screen.

"I think... I think I need to pee?" Nettie tried to convince even herself as she stood from her seat. "I'll be right back."

"Oh... Uh..." She looked at Nettie, her eyes falling on the bag of popcorn in her hand. "At least leave that for me." She gave Nettle a nervous smile and reached for the snack. Nettie shoved the popcorn her way and began inching out of the theater seats.

She moved quickly this time, making her way out of the cramped theater. She had no idea what was happening or why she could hear Leila's thoughts. But it wasn't something she could focus on. She had to get to Elena's to see what she was missing out on. Probably something shiny...

* * *

Kol looked up from a photo of Elena and Jeremy as Elena approached with a bottle of wine in her hands.

Elena shrugged smally. "So we're out of gin, but I think this is a good year."

"What if I said I don't believe you?"

"Okay, you caught me. I don't know anything about wine."

Kol set the picture back down from where he picked it up. "It just seems odd that you'd be so willing to give up the cure... Something you want so much."

"I would do anything for my brother. And if what you're saying about Silas is true, about how waking him will destroy humanity as we know it, what does it matter what I want if it puts everyone else in danger?"

Kol sighed. "Well, this has been enlightening. Thanks for the drinks.

Elena's eyes widen a bit as he moves to leave. She took a step forward as his hand reaches for the door knob.

"I'll take your request for a truce under advisement." He opened the door.

"Is there any chance that you could be wrong about Silas?"

"Trust me, Elena. Some things are better left buried." Kol closed the door behind him as he left. Elena sighed.

Elena sighed, pulling her cell from her pocket.

Leila: I think Nettie left the theater... I can't find her!

* * *

Nettie showed up on the doorstep moments after Kol had been seen walking down the street, away from the house. Clearly something was up and she had been left out of it...

She rang the doorbell, and it took a long moment before the door was opened. Elena looked relieved for a very brief moment, before her eyes widened and she looked more worried and slightly upset than anything. "What are you doing here?!"

"Heard there was a party." Nettie huffed, pushing her way inside the house. But it was only Elena... "What? No hello..."

"Party? There's no party." Elena laughed nervously just as the back door came open, Jeremy entering with a gun in his hands that Nettie recognized as a vamp-killing weapon.

"What's going on in here?" Jeremy looked confused.

"Holy shit!" Nettie stammered loudly as Kol whooshed past her at vampire speed. He jammed a stake into Elena's gut then headed for Jeremy. Her brother's head hit the counter with a loud smack.

"Now, like I said, I don't fancy the hunter's curse, so I'm just going to chop off your arm. But don't worry, I'll heal you right up with a bit of blood after." Kol half smiled, grabbing Jeremy's arm.

Nettie's eyes grew wide and she was unable to move, instead she just watched with anticipation.

* * *

Klaus sat with Damon inside his cell, watching the dark man with careful eyes. For a vampire being drained of blood and with Vervain in his system, he seemed to be doing all right.

Klaus's cell phone started ringing and he checked the caller ID. It was Kol. He hesitates only a second before answering. "Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac."

"Did you know that your darling, former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me? I am also pretty sure I could smell an annoying little blonde thing as I was leaving."

"What?" Klaus raised his eyebrows.

"Don't pretend like you're not in on it. Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt."

"I don't know what you're talking about.

"I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena and Nettle just for sport. Then I'm coming for you."

Klaus shoved his phone back into his pocket when Kol hung up on him. He glared at Damon and rushed him, grabbing him by the neck and pushing him against the wall. "What the hell is going on?"

Damon shrugged lightly. "I don't know."

"What are Stefan, Elena and Nettle planning?" Klaus bared his teeth.

"I don't know. I've been stuck in the penalty box with you since yesterday. Stefan won't talk to me, Elena won't come to see me, Nettie is Nettie..." Damon shrugged again.

Klaus's pupils dilated. "Tell me what you know."

"I don't know anything about a plan."

"Stay here till I return." Klaus released Damon and rushed out the cell.

* * *

Leila stepped out of the theater, hurrying down the sidewalks towards Elena's house. She couldn't believe it! Nettle was gone! Everyone was going to be so ticked! "No, no, no!" Leila looked up and down the street before crossing.

Something whooshed past her, blowing wind through her hair. Leila stopped a moment and looked around, seeing nothing she began walking again.

Damon ran right past her, not clueing in until he had already made it to his doorstep. Changing his mind he turned back around, heading for the redhead. He moved as fast as he could, stopping right in front of her.

Leila smacked right into something solid. She looked up, eyebrows raising at the sight of Damon. "What are you doing out of the cell? Why is nothing going as planned?" She frowned.

"Klaus let me out. What are you doing here?" Why wasn't she with the others? Or with Nettie for that matter. "Where is Nettie?" He groaned, knowing that if she wasn't with Red then she was somewhere causing problems.

"Why would Klaus let you out? You're compelled to kill Jeremy!" Leila bit her bottom lip then snatched up Damon's hand, holding it tightly. "I was on my way to Elena's. Nettie figured out the plan somehow. I can only imagine that's where she went." She blinked after a moment and looked down at their hands. She let go rather quickly, blushing.

Her nervousness was cute but he shrugged it off knowing that they wouldn't have much time if they were going to fix things.

* * *

Kol glared at Nettie as he pulled a cleaver out of the knife block on the kitchen counter. He snatched up the unconscious Jeremy by the hair and held his head against the counter. "Now, like I said, I don't fancy the hunter's curse, so I'm just going to chop off his arm. But don't worry. I'll heal him right up with a bit of blood after." He yanked on Jeremy's hair again, rather forcefully. The boy groaned.

Nettle wrinkled her nose. "Ew, gross. I don't want to see arm goo!"

Kol rolled his eyes as Jeremy came to. "Sorry about the sting... Now, which arm is it? Is it left or right? I'll just chop off both to be safe." Kol raised the knife over Jeremy, ready to plunge the blade through the young Gilbert's arms.

"I thought I told you no!" Nettie yelled, throwing Kol across the room. Kol hit the fireplace roughly, hitting the floor at it's base. "Nobody listens to me..."

Jeremy slumped to the floor, but grabbed his head, groaning as his vision cleared. He looked to Kol and got to his feet quickly, scrambling over to the downed Original. He snatched the White Oak stake out of Kol's jacket just as Elena managed to pull the weapon from her stomach.

"Jeremy now!" Elena yelled.

"What the hell is going on!" Nettie stammered angrily. "Honestly you guys this is getting boring!"

Jeremy moved forwards stabbing Kol through the heart with the White Oak stake. Kol caught on fire and his screams were bloodcurdling as he staggered around until he finally fell dead onto the kitchen floor.

"Yeah, cause that's boring..." Jeremy gave Nettie an exasperated look.

"You killed him." She said flabbergasted at what just happened. "You-"

"Killed him, yes we know." Jeremy deadpanned.

"Okay so there was a party and I really wasn't invited?!" She asked them angrily. Her feelings were hurt. If she had known she could have dressed better.

Jeremy opened his mouth to retort but stops short, eyes glued on the front door. Klaus stood in the entryway, fuming.

"What did you do?!" Klaus's voice was loud, venomous.

Nettie crossed her arms. "They didn't invite me to a party! That's what's up!"

"We didn't have a choice! He was trying to cut off Jeremy's arm!" Elena tried to explain, ignoring Nettle's comment.

"Lies!" Klaus slammed his fist against the wooden frame. "He never would've gotten inside if you hadn't set a trap for him."

Nettie swallowed hard as he bellowed at them. She could even feel a tear or two fighting to break through. Clearly she had missed just how serious this was.

"You said you were going to put him down too!" Elena frowned deeply.

Klaus's face was turning red. "I was going to make him suffer on my terms! I'm going to burn this house to the ground. And then, when you try to flee for your lives, I'll kill you all without blinking!"

Nettie couldn't figure out why the look of agony on Klaus's face was breaking her heart. She had no idea this was going to happen but if she had she might have tried to stop it. At least she wanted to believe that.

"You kill us, you'll never get to the cure. You'll never be able to make any more hybrids." Jeremy glared at Klaus.

"You really think I care for an instant about my bloody hybrids? I want the cure so I can destroy it! I would've killed you all the second we dug it up, but now I'm just gonna watch you burn instead!" Klaus suddenly fell to the ground, yelling in agony.

Bonnie stepped over him and inside. "Invite him in."

Jeremy and Elena gave Bonnie a look of confusion. Nettle watched everything unfold, frozen where she stood.

"Do it!" Bonnie exclaimed as Klaus got to his feet.

"Come in." Jeremy glanced nervously between Klaus and Bonnie.

Klaus fell into the house as he scrambled to his feet. Bonnie closed her eyes and chanted softly, magically dragging him inside, paralyzing him. "Living room. Go!" Bonnie said as she looked at the three.

Elena grabbed Nettie by the arm and pulled her into the kitchen with her and Jeremy. Bonnie released Klaus and he charged after the three but was stopped by an invisible barrier. Jeremy pulled the stake from Kol's chest and he and Elena bolted out the door.

"Witch, you can't do this to me!"

"You have no idea what I can do now." Bonnie gave him cold eyes.

"I will hunt all of you to your end! Do you hear me?! Do you?!"

Bonnie looked to Nettie. "Well, since you're here, I think it'd be best you stay and keep an eye on him. If he tries to get out, stop him and don't hold back. I need to follow Jeremy and Elena. Stefan's supposed to have some important information about a sword and headstone."

"Kay." Nettie muttered quietly.

* * *

Leila walked up to the Gilbert house porch and frowned at the open door. She looked to Damon over her shoulder. "The hell happened here?"

"A little bit of murder aparently." Nettie said, watching them come in and join her. She sat in the kitchen avoiding Klaus's gaze from the barrier.

"They actually did it." Damon said, smiling as he waved at the angry hybrid original. "Seems they can get things done without us, hey Red?"

Leila couldn't help but watch Klaus as he banged on what must have been Bonnie's invisible barrier. She just nodded in reply to Damon, curious and slightly frightened eyes on Klaus. She'd never seen him this angry.

Her eyes went to Nettie's and she sighed, taking a seat next to her sister. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you." She could tell Nettie was shaken.

"Uh huh." Nettie gulped, "I should have just stayed with you and that shitty movie."

"Oh come on, you cannot be serious?" Damon grinned at them. "You are not really upset about this are you? I had no idea Nettie Maxwell was even capable of feeling bad about something..."

"Shut up Damon!" Leila said, smacking his arm. "She's clearly upset. Don't rub it in." Leila kept her eyes on Damon to see how he'd answer or react, and she began to feel bad for hitting him. She looked away and took Nettle's hand in hers. "Maybe you should come home, instead of staying here. We'll let the others handle it."

"I'm fairly sure I've let the others handle enough. I am not going anywhere." Nettie replied grumpily. "You guys go. I'll stick around here."

"Oh ya? And what will you do if he gets out? Kiss him to death?" Damon shot back without realizing what he had said. He felt bad instantly.

Leila glanced back over at Damon and narrowed her eyes, giving him a very flat, 'I can't believe you just said that' kind of look.

"Yeah Damon. I'm going to kiss him to death. Sounds real effective." Nettie muttered in return. "Just get out of here okay? I need some time alone."

Leila frowned at Nettie's words, then looked to Damon. Her eyes told him she'd rather stay with Nettie. That she didn't want to leave her alone. "Go ahead, Damon. I'm not leaving her."

"Fine. Have at it." He rolled his eyes right before leaving the two alone.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

"Morning sunshine." Leila said, shoving a cup of coffee through the barrier. "You look... dandy." She frowned. It was a lie. He really looked horrible.

"Only until Bonnie's spell locking me in here wears off. Then I'll look different. Angrier, perhaps. Or I won't look like anything because I'll have gouged your eyeballs from their sockets."

"Well, hopefully the others will have the cure before then. We could just make you mortal, things would be-"

"Hey, be nice!" Nettie exclaimed, walking over to Leila. "Nobody is making anybody mortal. This isn't a horror movie. God!" She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"I'm an Original... If they did somehow find the cure and force it down my throat, what makes you think my entire vampire bloodline won't be cured along with me? I.e., a good handful of your friends." Klaus glared at Leila. She gave him a flat look back.

"That wouldn't be fun for anyone." Nettie sighed, "Can you imagine the whining? I'd probably have to kill Damon."

Leila gave Nettie a smirk.

* * *

It was getting later in the day and the girls hadn't heard from Elena or Damon. Nettie couldn't help but wonder if they had found the infamous cure or Silas. Leila was in the kitchen when Nettie finally decided she would attempt to talk to Niklaus.

She shimmied into the living room, standing five feet from the barrier. "So... I hear you weren't invited to the party either." She mumbled as she spoke, tapping one foot on the carpet below her.

"Nettie." He said, walking towards the barrier. "Let me out." His eyes were still filled with sorrow as he touched the invisible wall.

"I can't let you out." She twiddled her thumbs, "If I let you out then you'll kill Leila's friends. Then she will whine at me forEVER because we both know vampires are immortal..." She knew she was being a brat but he was making her nervous.

"If they aren't your friends then why should you care what I do with them? Let me out Nettie and I may spare your life."

"You would have to at least spare Damon." She hated the crap she was spewing. She didn't really know why she cared about the broody vampire. But she did. "Leila needs Damon." She took another step forwards, "Besides, we had no idea what Elena was going to do."

"Nettie maybe you shouldn't talk to him right now..."

"She's right you know. I should kill you all for just being here." Klaus smiled smugly.

"You know what? I am not going to engage in this. You are not even worth the calories I would burn talking to you." Leila said, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the door frame.

"Oooh, someone's gotten cocky since she's turned." Klaus narrowed his eyes and gave Leila a grin.

Nettie had taken a few more steps forwards, doing the one thing she wasn't meant to do. But this happened a lot when Leila told her what to do. It was like her body reacted before she could stop it. Not that she would... "Nettie!" Leila cried out as Klaus grabbed Nettie, pulling her into the spelled living room.

Leila's eyes widened.

"Now, that was definitely worth the calories." Klaus said, his eyes changed, little black veins forming underneath. He rose his jaw up and slammed them down into Nettie roughly.

"Nettie!" Leila glared at Klaus. "Stop it! Get away from her!" Leila gritted her teeth and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, instinctively. But who would she call for help? Everyone was miles and miles away.

Niklaus held on for dear life, draining the small blonde. If he could just get her to the point of death then he hoped the redheaded vampire would let him the hell out. He couldn't think about how incredible the thing tasted or how badly he wanted to keep her alive. Not to mention he was sure Elijah would be upset with him. Once again he would ruin his brother's only chance at real love...

Finally he could feel her pulse slow and he dropped her body onto the hard floor with a loud clunk. Then he forced a smirk.

"She'll die if you leave her like that!" Leila said, pleading as much as she could muster.

"Okay." He said smugly, bending down to pick her back up. He bit into his wrist and held it near her mouth. "Beg me to save her life."

"Is this what you want? To remind me that I'm powerless against you? Fine. You win. I'm nothing. Now save her. Please. " Leila pushed.

"Hm... No, that's not all I want. I want out." Klaus raised his brow.

"I can't get you out! I'm not Bonnie! I'm not a witch!" Leila looked desperate though. "I'll call her. Just give Nettie your blood, something! Heal her!" Nettie's eyes fluttered open and she looked at her sister. "Okay." Leila said softly, defeated. "I'll try to get Bonnie back."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear." Klaus smirks.

"One thing before I do... You get to be in control of her life. If you want her to die, fine. But then you can sit here and watch her die yourself. It's going to take me a while to get to Bonnie." Leila pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called up Bonnie. When no one picked up, she put it on loud speaker just so he could tell she wasn't bluffing him, and then walked into the other room.

Leila sat down on a chair and took a deep breath. It was taking every ounce of willpower she had to put up that façade.

* * *

It was dark by the time Nettie opened her eyes again. She lay on the cool hardwood floor where Klaus had dropped her. But when she looked and listened for her sister, she heard nothing. She was alone with him now. "Klaus?" She whimpered softly.

"Nothing personal, love. If I help you, that means victory for them. Don't worry. It won't be long now." He cooed from somewhere behind her.

He hated watching her lay there but he had to hold it together. He needed out so that he could stop them from gaining ground and finding the cure.

"If you don't feed me your blood, then I'll die." Nettie grumbled, still to weak to do much else.

"Then you'll die, and your friends will have learned their lesson the hard way." He said back, not looking at her.

"Why are you doing this? I helped you."

"I am a thousand years old Nettie, call it boredom." He replied.

'If they would just let me the hell out of here I could save you. You think I like this?'

"You're lying." Nettie said, hearing what he really thought, somehow...

"Then maybe it's because I'm pure evil and I can't help myself."

"It's because they hurt you. It's gross to think about it, I know. But maybe there is something in you that still cares. That might still be human." Nettie said. She couldn't help thinking about those cheesy lines in romance novels as she spoke. But she hoped it would help. She hadn't locked up her chest of shiny things and she knew that if she died Leila would find it.

Klaus got up finally, moving towards the pile of blonde on the floor. He looked down at her, "How could you possibly think that about me?" He asked her, confused.

"Because I have seen it. I have seen you help me when you didn't have to. I have seen the way you are with your family even when you hate it." She had no idea why she was saying these things. Was it to make him feel better? She wasn't sure. "I hate myself for saying this. But I sorta liked being around you."

Klaus didn't really answer, but something definitely flickered in his eyes, like he was touched the slightest by Nettie's words, like she may have actually gotten through to him. He knelt down and gathered her up in his arms, taking her towards the couch. "You are delusional little glow worm." He whispered, watching as she began to blink.

"Klaus..." She muttered, her eyes closing, the up and down of her chest slowing, almost to a stop.

Klaus hesitated but a moment before biting open his wrist. He couldn't quite comprehend what had moved him to save her, but Nettle was something different, something special, maybe. He pulled her up into his lap and reached around her shoulder to press his wrist against her lips.

Nettie started to drink the blood. Klaus leaned back into the couch and stroked her arm with his free hand, watching as the life seemed to flow back into her.. As she began to inhale air once again he let her rest.

* * *

As soon as Nettie's eye opened and she saw the man she seemed to be laying on she jumped from the couch. Straightening herself out she huffed. "Need my help with anything love?" Klaus smirked up at her.

"Nope. Nope, nope, nope." She stuttered a bit right before walking directly through the barrier.

Leila stepped into the living room with Tyler and Caroline behind her just in time to see Nettle pass right through the invisible wall that had been keeping her and Klaus trapped together. "What the hell?" She raised her eyebrows. "Nettie, you're all right!" She grinned at her sister.

Klaus had gotten up out of the couch and walked towards the barrier once again. This time he looked fazed. "How did she do that?" He demanded.

"Do what?" Nettie asked, looking innocent as she made for her bag on the nearby chair. She sighed inwardly pulling out a small green pendant. "Thank god. Leila knew this was in here. I thought it was a goner for sure."

Nettie hadn't noticed the eyes on her. "It's a good question Nettie. You shouldn't have been able to get out of there once inside." Caroline said, her brow furrowed.

Leila was speechless for a while before the reason why Caroline and Tyler were there actually struck her. She turned to look at the two and eyed the sword in Tyler's hands. Klaus's gaze left Nettie and fell on the sword as well.

"Uhm..." Caroline scratched the back of her head. "We have work to do with Klaus here... Maybe you two should go get some rest or something and we'll take over Klaus-Watch duties."

"Sounds great." Leila said, reaching for Nettie.

As they began to head towards the kitchen and the front door. Nettie's eyes fell on the shiny sword in Tyler's hands. "Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full bloom." She muttered, eyes running over the tiny symbols. "Sounds fun." She deadpanned. "Good luck with that."

"What in the actual hell was that!" Caroline said as the two girls made for the door.

* * *

The next morning Nettle found herself checking her reflection, more specifically the spot Klaus had bit her. There was a scar, which really worried her. Didn't vampire blood heal wounds completely? Like they never really happened?

A knocking came at the bathroom door and Leila stepped inside, as it was already open a bit. "What is that?" Leila asked her, joining her sister for their morning ritual where they fought over the sink.

"A reminder of Niklaus trying to kill me." Nettie grumbled, her feelings still a little sore.

Leila furrowed her brow and brushed Nettie's hair aside so she could look at the scar. She swallowed hard, her sister's scent intoxicating. She got a quick glance at the scar before taking a large step back. "I... I don't know why you have a scar... Maybe ask Stefan or Damon when they get back?"

"Maybe it's something to do with me being a giant freak." Nettie said, pulling her hair back into place over her shoulder.

"You're not a giant freak. Stop." Leila's eyebrows raised at a knocking sound, coming from the hallway. "Who's that...?"

Nettle shrugged and went about her routine as Leila walked into the bedroom. She cautiously approached the bedroom door as knocking came again and she opened it just a crack. Who knew what crazy Originals would be after them today? Klaus was still pretty pissed after all.

"What are you doing acting all sluethy, Red?" Damon pushed open the door and walked into the room.

"Oh, you're back?" Leila watched Damon as he looked around before sitting on the end of her bed.

"Yes and I come bearing bad news. Jeremy is dead, Elena's upset." He waved his hand around. "Just a heads up."

Leila stumbled back into a desk chair, wide-eyed. "J-Jeremy is dead?" She bit her bottom lip. "Oh my..." She Leila covered her mouth with her hand, at a loss for words.

"Katherine showed up and ruined the fun. But we did get the cure." He hated when Katherine was around. Even though he told himself he hated her he still felt the burn of what she had down to him. It made him feel weak.

Leila dropped her hand into her lap and frowned deeply. "I can't believe it... I mean... How in the world is Elena going to cope with this?"

"We just have to be there for her. A shoulder to cry on or whatever." Nettie came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head. She didn't say hi or even nod, instead she made her way out of her sister's temporary room and headed to her own.

"I'm worried about her. She is never like this Damon. My sister doesn't get this upset about anything unless it's shiny or she's hungry. And I know for a fact she ate today." Leila told him, watching her leave. "And her shiny chest is locked tight so she hasn't lost anything."

"I told you she liked him." Damon said, plunking down on the giant bed and leaning back into it. "It's about time she figured out what a broken heart feels like. She can give advice based on experience now." He remembered when she had told him to suck it up. She didn't seem to be taking her own advice these days.

"She... gave advice? On feelings?" Leila raised an eyebrow.

"We don't need to talk about that." Damon muttered quickly.

Leila looked at him curiously for a moment before standing up out of the swivel chair. She walked over to the bed and frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Katherine is back again." He hated Katherine.

"And she makes you broody? I know Katherine was horrible to you... I know she just killed our friend... But like you said, we need to be strong, right?"

"She only shows up when she is planning something. With all that is going on right now I just don't get how we are going to be able to deal with her to." And Elena, and Silas... It was going to be too much for them all. Not to mention the angry hybrid original who threatened to kill them all.

"I know I'm not much, but I'll be here to help you get through it, Damon..." Leila rubbed her arm nervously.

Damon looked up at her from where he lay. She had no idea just how much better than him she was. She was everything. But like Katherine and Elena, everything they were was not meant for him. He wasn't meant to be happy. Only live in his brother's shadow.

Leila tilted her head to the side, looking like she was trying to read his thoughts. It was obvious she wasn't too sure of what else she could possibly say to make him feel better. She dropped down next to him so she could see him properly. "You just need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You aren't defined by what Katherine did to you. I wish you could see that."

His throat closed as he tried to figure out what he was going to say to get himself out of this emotional conversation. He wasn't good at these kinds of things. Reaching out he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to him. He took in the scent of her hair and let himself relax. Even if she could never love him he would still take as much as he could before she was gone.

Leila was stiff in his arms at first; she didn't know how to react to his embrace. It didn't take long before she found herself relaxing, though, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling herself even closer to him, rubbing her foot against his gently before hooking her leg around his.

He knew he shouldn't. He knew it wasn't right. But he also knew that she was the only real happiness he had known in 150 years. He rolled her over until he was looking down at her. Her hair fanned out on the covers and she looked like an angel. Then he kissed her, hard.

She moaned into his mouth, wrapping her arms up around his neck, pulling him in closer. Leila knotted her fingers in his hair and Damon couldn't help but give in to it. He ran his hand up her thigh slowly and when she moaned again he couldn't help himself. He moved her hair from her neck and kissed his way down towards her wrist. He nipped her gently there, before raising his hand to bite into his own wrist.

Leila's eyes followed the blood that trickled down his forearm. Damon could see the look in her eyes, a look that longed for the taste of him again. She raised her wrist to his lips and he bit into it, groaning as he drank from her.

Damon pressed his wrist to Leila's mouth and his eyelids fluttered as her lips came around his wrist and she began drinking from him. Leila would never know what this meant to him... And he wasn't planning on telling her.

Their thoughts were smothered when the door opened revealing a tear stained Elena Gilbert.

Damon's eyes widened at the sight of Elena. It was evident in her expression that she was more than just hurt. She was devastated. It also reminded him of what had happened between them back on that Island. Proof to himself that he really wasn't worth any of what Leila had given him.

"What is going on? Damon?" Elena said, frowning as she tried her best not to burst out into tears once again.

Leila looked between the two, her face red. She wiped Damon's blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. She shoved lightly on his chest and he moved off of her. She inched to the edge of the bed and climbed off. Then she retreated to the small on suite bathroom and shut the door.

"Y-You were... With Leila? I thought..." Elena bit her bottom lip.

"You thought what Elena? That I would just hop along waiting for you to end it with my brother so that we could live happily ever after? We both know that was never going to happen." He bit out, leaving the blood right where it was.

"Do you love her Damon? Or are you trying to get back at me for caring about Stefan?" Elena grabbed the door knob, like she was steadying herself for whatever Damon had to throw at her.

"Look Elena, I am sorry that Jeremy is gone. I am sorry about everything that's happened. But I don't need to explain what that was to you or anyone."

Elena gave him a long, measured look. "Right, avoid answers, Damon. When something is too much for you, you just shove it aside. I hope Leila knows that, cause she'll be the next one getting hurt." Elena turned on her heel and closed the door behind her as she left.

The door creaked open again and a clean Leila emerged. "What was that Damon?" She asked calmly, hand still on the cold door knob.

Damon ran a hand down his face, sighing loudly. "Nothing good."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Leila was bent over a suitcase, folding up clothes and setting them inside it. She sighed loudly. She didn't have to even try to hear what Damon and Elena were saying in the other room. They were yelling it. She was sure the entire house knew about it.

"You kissed me Elena!"

It echoed down the hallways as she zipped the bag shut, dropping it down onto the four poster bed. She grabbed her last bag and started shoving her bathroom stuff into it.

"You kissed me back! You held me! I thought we had something!"

Leila winced at the thought of Damon and Elena sharing a moment at the same time she'd thought her and Damon had something. Boy, Leila couldn't have felt more wrong. She should have known better. Why would Damon ever settle with just little Red?

Nettie inched into the room, finally clothed. "Leila?" She murmured, watching as her sister jammed things into things.

The few minutes it had taken Leila's sister to get dressed felt more like hours with the Damon and Elena drama going on in the other room.

"Finally, you're done. Ready to get out of here?" Leila asked Nettie, zipping her bathroom bag shut.

"Are we going somewhere?" Nettie asked, trying her best to be careful about making things worse.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome... Or at least I have. Let's go to your place, maybe?" Leila gave Nettle a pitiful look, like a dog left out in the rain.

"Sure. I hate this place anyways." Nettie ran her hand down one of the banisters of the bed. "I'll just uh... Go pack." Damon stood in the doorway, waiting for the small blonde to escape.

Leila watched as Nettle squeezed past him. Her eyes glanced over Damon quickly before falling back on her luggage. She stayed quiet.

"You're leaving." Damon said, watching as she tied her last bag shut.

"Looks like it." Leila swung a backpack over her shoulder.

"Guess it's for the best. I was never anybodies night in shining armor." He mumbled sadly. He hated to see her go but he knew that if she stayed he would only make things worse somehow.

It took every ounce of willpower Leila could muster to not cry at his words. He meant a lot to her, but if he was going to never let go of Elena, she would have to let go of him. It wasn't fair to either of them.

She picked up her other bag and grabbed the handle on the wheelie suitcase and turned to leave the room. Her eyes met Damon's and she froze. "You know what Damon? It's not like I wasn't expecting this to happen. You and Elena, that was never something I could beat."

She took a deep breath and walked by him, careful not to roll her suitcase over his foot or something and make herself look like an idiot. She hurried out the front door of the Boarding house and loaded her things into the Impala. Climbing inside she slammed the door shut. Then she waited until Nettie loaded her own things.

Nettie went back inside and said her goodbyes, writing down the address for Stefan so that they could come by whenever they needed. "We aren't that far. If you need me, let me know." Nettie never saw herself offering these people her... Talents. But here it was happening.

"We are still going to figure out what you are and where you came from Nettle. We don't break our promises." Stefan smiled softly at her.

"Yeah well. It isn't like tomorrow we won't be fighting some new evil together is it?" They both laughed.

Elena hugged her and the two vampires left Damon with Nettie. Nettie sighed and half smiled at him, "Couldn't make it last more than an hour could you?"

"Shut up blondie." He smirked back at her.

"Look. You know where we live right? So when you get your head out of your ass come on over for a visit." She almost gagged on the words. But seeing Leila unhappy was making her unhappy. Nettle picked up her bags and went to walk by Damon but he stopped her, grabbing her by the elbow. She turned to look at him. "Leila's waiting. Unless you have some shinies, this better be good... Spit it out!"

"She's too good for me."

Nettle raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"

"I may have given her the wrong impression when we shared blood... That was a mistake."

"Wow Damon, you really are dumber than I gave you credit for." She kept the large grin on her face as she walked out the front door of the boarding house.

* * *

The cabin was just as beautiful as the girls remembered it. Pulling up to the house, Leila felt a wave of relief wash over her, like she left everything that was bothering her behind at the Salvatore's home. "Thank you for just up and leaving with me, Nettie. I owe you one."

"Yeah well I have my reasons for agreeing. Purely selfish reasons by the way." She lied, teasing her sister.

Leila gave Nettle a small smile. "Yeah, well... Hopefully things will start to feel better with us off on our own."

"But we aren't on our own are we? You crammed those idiots into our lives." Nettie grumbled, feeling the still fresh sting of forced friends, "We'll see them again tomorrow I know it."

"Maybe it was a mistake..." Leila frowned as she looked down into her lap. "Maybe I should have never gotten us involved with them. Not much good has come of it..." Her voice trailed off.

"I need to figure out who I am Leila. You making those people our friends... That helps me. I don't see that as a mistake." She hated to admit it but Damon had kinda stuck on her. And Elijah and Klaus.. They were her friends? Okay maybe Klaus was no ones friends. But at least she got t know him.

Leila scoffed. "It helps you. I'm a freakin' vampire, Nettie. I killed people, I got my heart stomped all over even though I saw it coming."

"I almost died Leila. Klaus, the guy I think is pretty cool, tried to murder me." She dropped her bags down in the doorway and looked at her sister. "I could have died."

"I think we both have problems... Major problems... Why did you let him live anyways?" Leila held onto her things as she waited for Nettie to unlock and open the doors. "Since he tried to kill you and all.."

"We don't need to talk about this anymore. Next topic." Nettie muttered, letting them inside.

* * *

Leila untied her bathroom bag and started putting her things inside the medicine cabinet over the sink. She looked into the bedroom at Nettle.

"So I was thinking. Maybe we should explore this place a little tonight. After we eat dinner of course." The place seemed small-ish on the inside. But from the outside she could swear it looked bigger. She was curious as to why that was.

"Uhm... Sure." Leila nodded her head and closed her bag when it was all unloaded and walked into the bedroom to stand by Nettie. "It'll be fun."

* * *

They stood outside staring up at the top floor. "But... I..."

"I know right! Inside there is only two floors. But on the outside." Nettie pointed up at the third story. "There's three floors."

"An attic?" Leila raised a brow. "I don't remember seeing any doors or stairs that would lead to an attic..."

"A mystery!" Nettie grinned. "There has to be a way in. I bet there''s gold up there."

"Let's go search the place. I'm sure we'll find a way up." Leila and Nettle headed back into the cabin and headed up to the second floor. It took them a good fifteen minutes to thoroughly investigate the place, not finding any trapdoor attic steps on the ceiling or a stairwell they may have missed.

"But all these doors were to closets. What the hell?" Nettle murmured, opening a closet door and peeking inside again. Nettle blinked, her eyebrows raised.

"What?" Leila looked to Nettie, then inside the closet and she blinked too. "That wasn't there before..."

"Hello stairway to the attic... Oh, I hope there are shinies up there!"

"That's all you can say? Nettie look at this staircase!" Leila's sister had been right in thinking this would take her mind off Damon. It did.

The staircase wound up and up for what seemed like forever. Moss and mushrooms grew from the corners. There was some strange lanterns hung from the walls on all sides, tainting the darkness.

"Wow..." Leila breathed. She pushed Nettie forward gently. "Well what are you waiting for?! Go up!"

"You go up!" Nettie stammered, shoving her friend forwards. She had no idea what was up there!

"Oh, yes, send the vampire first. I see how it is." Leila giggled, sticking her tongue out at Nettle over her shoulder before she started ascending the staircase.

"If you die I could probably help out but if I die then what? Then I'd just be dead Leila. Dead. We don't want that!" Nettie blurted out, pushing her sister up the staircase.

"Wait? Dead? What makes you think one of us will be dying?!" Leila continued up the stairs, but she was definitely getting nervous. "I haven't had sex yet! I can't die now!... Er, again!"

"Neither have I. Think about that!" She followed Leila up the staircase for what seemed like an hour, when she finally rammed into Leila's still body. "I knew you were trying to kill me!" Nettie grumbled, rubbing her head where she had smacked in Leila.

"Lots of cobwebs..." Leila raised a brow. "And boxes... And are those like... vines?" Leila sneezed as she stepped farther into the attic.

"Look at THAT!" Nettie stammered, pushing Leila out of the way. There was what looked like a big roll top desk but that wasn't what Nettie had moved for. It was the key that locked it shut. It was extravagant, made of gold. Little jewels tucked inside it's head. "It's the prettiest thing I have ever seen." Her eyes grew wide as she pulled it from the keyhole, shoving it into her pocket.

"Uh... Nettie?" Leila said, watching as her sister pocketed the key without opening the desk.

"It's mine." Nettie flipped her eyes to Leila's, "I saw it first." She began muttering little obscenities under her breath about Leila always trying to steal her shiny things.

"You don't think you should see if it fits in the lock before stowing it away?" She tapped her foot on the floor which made dust clouds rise. She started coughing.

"What? What lock?" Nettie said, touching the key in her pocket. Her eyes traveled to where Leila had been glaring. "Oh. Yeah I guess." She pulled it out and twisted it right before shoving it back into her pocket.

Leila crossed the room, to Nettie, watching as she waited for her sister to open up the desk. She was really curious to see what might be inside. Finally growing impatient she grabbed the roll top handle and tried to open it. But it didn't move, "What in the hell?" Nettie had unlocked it...

"Wussy." Her sister giggled before she pushed the thing up. "That wasn't even stuck..."

"Maybe it's spelled?" Leila said. That could happen right? "What is all this?" Leila asked, starting to pull out books. She opened one up to the first page and scanned the words. "Diaries? Uhm..." She handed the book over to Nettie and paged through another.

"This is boring." Nettie sighed, dropping it onto the floor and walking over to a giant circular window. It looked out over the grounds and Nettie couldn't help wonder why they couldn't see it from the outside... It was clear there was a third floor but there hadn't been any elaborate windows.

"Nettie listen to this." Leila said, reading a passage from the grimoire.

_It has been many months since I started looking for what might be causing Samuel's strange behavior. When I met him I knew he was strange. But as the days pass I seem to wonder if I had it all wrong. Maybe it is more than just a strange way about him._

_In all that I have read I have come to one conclusion. Although not actually evil, Samuel frequently shows a blunt disregard for the thoughts, feelings, or well being of others while being overly sensitive himself, and has so little a grasp on the social conventions of human beings that he more often than not mistakes innocent actions or misunderstandings as direct, personal insults to himself or his friends. I would Describe him as mercurial, his mood can and often does change from one extreme to another within the space of minutes._

_I have found a scholarly work on faeries in where it was described that Faeries and men both contain a faculty of reason, and a faculty of magic. In men logic is strong, and magic weak, while magic is a Faery's natural affinity, and by human standings they are barely sane._

_I have found many other passages in my travels that lead me to believe that my husband is not like the rest of us. I fear that if the council finds out that they will kill him, leaving me and our only child alone._

_-Ellie Fern_

Leila looked up from the book to meet Nettie's gaze. All she could think about is how Damon pointed out the possibility of fairy's to her when they'd gone into the council's locked library to research what Nettle could possibly be.

"Cool, who's the geezer?" Nettie asked her, wondering why there would be random grimoires up in the attic.

"Nettie! Aren't you listening? Samuel, Ellie Fern's husband. You're a Fern, according to that picture downstairs... They're related to you."

"Yeah BUT they are dead. How does that help me? Besides... They sounds like freaks." Nettie shrugged. "Fairy's aren't real Leila."

Leila groaned loudly and shut the book. "You know what? You're probably right." She held onto the book anyway. "Let's get these boxes downstairs where it's not so dust and spider-infested." She frowned at a spider skittering across the desk. "Maybe there are photos or something."

"Okay bossy pants. Let's do it." Nettie helped her sister carry a few boxes into the living room, grumpily dropping them on the black carpet.

"What? You aren't curious about any of this? Stop being such a grump-butt." Leila eyed Nettle curiously as she put the last of the boxes down in front of the leather couch.

"I am curious I just hate the idea of being related to weirdos."

Leila gave Nettie a long look with a hidden meaning. "Mmhmm... Of course you do..." Her tone was a little sarcastic. She looked at the book she'd been reading in the attic, which she had set down on the ornate, glass coffee table. "Think... Maybe Stefan would be able to make sense of this stuff?" She looked to Nettie.

"He was alive back then I guess... Why not."

"All right. We'll call him in the morning. I need to get to bed. I'm exhausted." Leila stifled a yawn by covering her mouth with her hand. "Sound good?"

"Okie Dokie." Nettie saluted her sister in agreement. "Tomorrow it is."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

Stefan sat on the leather couch opposite of the sisters, a grimoire in his hands. Caroline sat beside him, reading over his shoulder. Leila pulled a leather bound book from one of the boxes. "This one looks super old." She said to Nettie as she opened it to the first page.

Leila tilted her head to the side as she flipped through page after page of pictures. Nettie seemed a little more interested in the photos than the old grimoire's, examining every face in each picture.

Leila stopped turning the pages when she came across a ton of baby pictures. "Is that...?" She flipped the page.

"Nettle Fern... One year old..." Nettie read slowly. "Eww, I had no hair. I'm like some weird hairless rodent."

"Oh, baby Nettie?" Caroline laughed and stood up off the couch, coming around behind Leila and Nettle to take a peek herself. Caroline grinned. "You don't look like a rodent. You were adorable."

"Babies are gross, are you serious?" Nettie scrunched her nose up. She began flipping through the book now. "Holy mother of GROSS!" She pushed the book over to her sister. "What is he doing in here?!"

Leila almost dropped the book at the sight of Damon's face. Caroline grabbed it before it fell to the floor and snatched the picture out of it's pages. She examined it closely. "There is no way Damon is in here. This can't be him." She squinted her eyes at the photo. "That's Damon!"

"Let me have a look." Stefan said, putting his own book down and taking the picture. "What was my brother doing at Elizabeth Mcleary's? He hated her."

"You know that woman?" Leila said, eyes wide.

"She was... strange." Stefan narrowed his eyes at the photo. "Why is this in Nettie's picture album?"

Caroline continued to flip through the photo album, until she got to the last page. She sat down on the recliner with the book in her lap as the others stood perplexed at the picture of Damon. "Oh my goodness..." Caroline sounded breathless.

"What now?" Leila asked, looking over at her.

"I just found... a family tree..." She paused. "And you'll never guess who's in it."

"Eww! WHAT!" Nettie almost yelled. "No that is not real. I cannot be related to that broody vampire!"

"She's right." Stefan said, brow furrowed. "My brother was turned by then. He couldn't have fathered a child."

"But..." Caroline stood back up with the book and showed it to the three. "It's right here in black and white."

"And there's that picture of Nettie's dad..." Leila said.

"What picture?" Stefan looked to Leila over his shoulder.

"Nettie's father looks a lot like... Damon..." Leila looked to her sister. "Go get it for them to see."

Nettie went and got the photo, handing it to Stefan. "Now I can really see it... This is so awful..." She whined.

"Oh my gosh, I made out with your great, great, great grandfather..." Leila raised an eyebrow, looking at Nettie.

"How can... Damon couldn't procreate."

"I'm calling Bonnie... Like right now. This is too weird." Caroline pulled her cell phone from her pocket and started dialing Bonnie's number.

* * *

"So she just burned the thing down?" Nettie raised a brow as Damon told them what had gone down. "Seems a little psycho."

"Nettie!" Leila scolded her sister.

"She's turned the emotional switch off." Damon tapped his forehead. "It could get a whole lot worse."

Leila sighed, tapping a cardboard box full of books with her foot. Why Bonnie had to meet up at the Boarding House, Leila would never know.

"So, what is all this you wanted my help with?" Bonnie asked Leila, and Nettie in particular.

Leila didn't answer. She stayed quiet, looking in the opposite direction of Damon.

"This." Nettie handed over the family tree. "Tall and broody might want to stick around for this one."

"What's this have to do with me?" He moved from his place leaning against the wall and walked over to check out the paper Nettle was handing to Bonnie. "Why am I on this?" His face changed to confusion.

"Did you or did you not defile my Great, Great, Great Grandmother Damon?" Nettie demanded eyeing him harshly.

"Did I what?" Damon sounded offended, but he snatched the paper out of Bonnie's hands and looked at the woman's name next to his. "Oh, hell..." His expression seemed a bit more serious and a lot more worried.

"Oh my god, you DID! You defiled my Grandmother! Ew! Gross!" Nettie covered her face with her hands.

"But that doesn't explain why I'm on here! I'm no father! I can't have children!" Damon dropped the paper back in Bonnie's lap.

"Well, I can always perform a ritual, see if you two are connected by the same bloodline. That would tell us if this really happened or not." Bonnie looked between Damon and Nettie.

"Elizabeth was insane. What makes you think she didn't just use my name in place of some other random guy she slept with?"

"Are you calling my great, great, great grandmother a whore?!" Nettie stood up. "My grandmother was a SAINT!"

"No, I'm saying-"

"Shut up you two!" Leila exclaimed. "I'm so tired of your bull-crap Damon! Just go with Bonnie and Nettie and figure this out!"

Caroline jumped at Leila's outburst, and looked between her and Damon curiously and wide-eyed.

Damon stayed quiet, just looked at Leila emotionlessly.

"All right, let's get this done then." Bonnie stood up and set the family tree down on the table, motioning with her hand for Nettie and Damon to follow her into another room.

* * *

Leila stared down at a pillow in her arms. She picked absentmindedly at the fringes. She could feel the anger boiling inside her. That was exactly the reason she didn't want to stay in the Boarding House. She was a new vampire. Keeping her emotions in check was a chore and a half. She knew she would end up yelling at Damon.

"So..." Stefan started, looking at Leila. "My brother seems pretty upset. Seeing as Elena and I broke up last night I think that's a very strange thing."

"And you seem pretty upset too, Leila," Caroline added softly. She looked worried.

"Damon's an ass." Leila muttered.

"Damon is my brother. While he may be an ass-hat he also deserves a bit of credit."

"Credit for what?" Leila put the pillow down and looked at Stefan. "Credit for being unloyal? Credit for being a jerk?"

"I thought Damon was going to steal away my girlfriend, like he always tries to do... But he didn't. He's getting his head on straight. Give him credit for that." Stefan folded his hands in his lap.

"What exactly did Damon to you to make you so upset, Leila?" Caroline asked.

"He..." Leila paused. "He kissed me, and we shared each other's blood... He made me think I was important to him, but he keeps crawling back to Elena. He didn't even try to stop me when I left."

Stefan's eyebrows rose. "Seems like we may have confused who my brother was really in love with."

Leila narrowed her eyes slightly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Blood sharing is a pretty intimate thing Leila. Most vampires don't do it with just anyone." Stefan half-smiled.

Leila's face turned a light shade of red.

"I don't think Damon has even tried to share his blood with Elena, Leila. She would have told me." Caroline added.

Leila bit her bottom lip, a million things running through her mind at the information. "B-But... Then why did he just let me go? Why didn't he say or do something to keep me here? Why did he kiss Elena on the island? I don't understand."

"I think..." Caroline started, her tone thoughtful. "I think Damon feels like he's a bad person... And people who usually think that of themselves just mess around because they don't feel like their good enough for commitments or responsibilities to others. They just do what feels good at the moment without thinking."

"My brother feels like Katherine broke him. He bases everything on what he felt for her. Katherine never loved him. To him, he was worth nothing." Stefan said softly.

"So..." Leila started.

"So when he gets done with this ritual thing, you go get him, girl!" Caroline exclaimed. "There has to be something there."

"Right." But now Leila almost felt like an ass herself. She hadn't even stopped to think about how Damon might really feel. She hadn't given him any credit at all. She was just like the rest of them...

* * *

The doorbell to the cabin rang just a little before dark. Leila got up from her book, placing it on the small coffee table, heading for the door.

"Elijah." Leila was shocked that he had come here. But she knew she wasn't in danger. He hadn't been invited in, as long as she stayed inside she would be okay. That is unless he decided to burn the place down. "How did you get this address?"

"I have my sources, Leila... Is Nettle home?" Elijah gave her a pleasant smile.

"Uhm... Yeah. I'll get her." Leila marched off in search of Nettie, finding her standing in the doorway of a closet. "What are you doing?"

"Look at it!" Nettie said, touching the back wall.

"It's a closet."

"It's where the staircase was!" But it was gone. Nettie was pretty sure she was going nuts.

"Nettie you have a visitor. Can we figure out this new mystery later?" Leila sighed, still thinking about Damon and what she was going to say to him.

"What? Who now?" She half-frowned.

"Elijah." Leila tapped her foot on the floor. "Just go talk to him. Or I think he'll stand there looking in through the windows all night like a crazy stalker."

Nettie raised an eyebrow. "And they call me the weird one." Nettie headed for the front door, stopping in front of him. "Hey, here to kill us?"

He frowned, "No."

"Good. I am busy right now. Dying will have to wait for later." She muttered, looking back towards the staircase. "What's up?"

"I came to apologize for what happened the last time you were at the house. I would have come sooner but I have been away to New Orleans. But seeing as I am back now I figured I should come say it face to face. I am sorry Nettie. I crossed a line."

She glared at him a moment, "You can't just kiss people." Her face stayed completely serious as she watched him.

"Evidently."

"No, not evidently. It's rude. You're rude." Nettie said right back.

"Again, I apologize." Elijah put his hand in his suit pocket. "Is there any way I can make it up to you, Nettle?"

"Don't do it again?"

Elijah looked almost hurt for a moment before his expression changed again. "If that is what you want."

"Okay, so, was there anything else?" Nettie asked after a few awkward moments of silence between them.

"I... also wanted to warn you about my brother. He's in a real mood, and he's out for blood. He's under the impression that you and your friends are going to come after him with the cure."

"Why would we want to do that?"

"To get rid of him for good, of course." Elijah tilted his head to the side, examining her.

"My friends aren't going to waste the cure on Niklaus. The world doesn't revolve around your family."

"Then what will they use it for?"

"I don't know! They all want it for something! Hell, Leila may even want it for herself." Nettie shrugged.

"Your sister is a vampire, and you don't know if she feels okay with that?" Elijah actually sounded concerned.

"I don't know. I figured she'd have a long time to get over it."

"I see... Well, I suppose I will take my leave. Thank you for giving me a second chance."

"There's no second chance Elijah. No more trying to eat me, or kiss me." Nettie said confused. "Same goes for your brother. He almost killed me."

Elijah didn't answer. He just glared at her, processing her words. His brother hadn't mentioned that...

Nettie sighed when Elijah left and was out of sight, then shut the door. She turned to find Leila sitting on the couch.

"You didn't invite him in. Didn't go well?" Leila asked, looking at the picture of Nettie's family tree.

* * *

Damon stood by the mantle, a glass of bourbon in his hand. He looked at Stefan, sitting on the couch. Just as Stefan seemed to be pondering things, Damon was too. "She'll come back." Damon said.

"She burned down her house Damon. Where has she been?" Stefan replied. He may have left her but he still gave a shit.

"I'm sure she's fine. She's Elena."

"Her emotions are turned off. She isn't Elena right now." Stefan put his fingers to his lips and sighed.

"I swear women should come with a warning label." Damon took a swig of his alcohol.

"So how does it feel to know you had a child?" Stefan asked, curious to see if his brother cared.

"I don't know. Not really different. What feels weird is that little Blondie and I are related."

"Why? You are both full of it most of the time. You both suck at communication. It isn't that far fetched Damon." Stefan grinned at his brother. He was loving every second of all this. The only part that worried him was that a vampire had procreated.

"She's a little deranged, Stefan. I'm perfectly normal." He flashed his pearly whites. "But really? I suck at communication? What are you trying to say? I'm always the one who gets the business done with my charm and small talk." Damon narrowed his eyes at Stefan over his glass.

The doorbell rang just as Stefan moved to answer his brother. Damon's eyes flitted over in the direction of the front door. "Expecting company, Damon?" Stefan raised a brow.

"It's probably Leila here to lecture me or give me a hard time." He swallowed down most of his drink. "I'll get it." Damon walked over to the front door, took a breath and rolled his eyes, then opened it wide.

"Hello, Damon." Klaus grinned wickedly back at him. "I'm here to kill you."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

Damon took a step back, slamming the door in Niklaus's face. "Uhm, brother! We have a problem!" Damon whirled on his heel and lept from the door as it came crashing open.

He barreled inside, grabbing the first thing in the doorway. Smashing the table, he started throwing pieces at the two vampires.

Stefan dove out of the way of the make-shift wooden stakes coming at him and Damon. Klaus growled. "You killed my brother! You think I was just going to let you get away with it?!" He grabbed another stake and jammed it into Stefan. "WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?" He demanded.

"Shit!" Damon's attention snapped to Stefan.

"I don't... know." Stefan managed through gritted teeth, grabbing Klaus by the wrist.

"You're lying." Klaus seethed. "You'll tell me where they are or I'll rip you to tiny little pieces."

"Jeremy is dead, Elena is MIA, Bonnie is god-knows-where... Leila and Nettie are gone too! We don't know where anyone is!" Damon said as he ripped up a piece of the banister.

Klaus didn't seem to like Damon's answer. He picked Stefan up by the throat and threw him across the hall. He charged Damon and grabbed him by the hair. "Tell me where they are."

"Brother!" Elijah appeared in the doorway of the boarding house. "Stop this!"

"I deserve my revenge! And so do you, Elijah! How can we let them get away with killing our brother?" Klaus growled angrily, keeping his eyes on Damon.

"Our brother was trying to kill one of them. He was going insane, on a murderous rampage. He wouldn't listen to any of us. There was no reasoning with him." Elijah kept his eyes on Klaus.

"That's no excuse for killing our brother!" He pushed Damon up against the wall. "You're lucky my brother's here or I'd tear out both of your hearts." Klaus said a little more calmly, glaring at Damon. He whispered, "How about you kill someone you love?" Klaus pondered a moment. "The next time you see someone you are in love with, you will kill her. Torture her, make her think you're hers, then rip her heart out." Klaus smirked smuggly. "I think that will be sufficient..." He let go of Damon and he slid down the wall.

"What are you mumbling about?" Elijah asked. "Let's go. You've done enough and we must talk about New Orleans..."

Klaus dusted his hands and walked over to Elijah, brushing past him. "Happily." He smiled at his brother as he walked out the front door, leaving a mess of destroyed furniture in his wake.

* * *

Nettie and Leila knocked on the back wall of the closet. Leila was on her hands and knees, knocking on the floor even, looking for a hidden switch or something that could open the wall to the staircase.

"Ah, I feel like we were imagining the whole thing!" Nettie grumbled.

"But we're not imagining the whole thing, because we have boxes full of stuff!" Leila growled as she started picking at the carpeting in the corner of the closet, trying to peel it back to check the flooring underneath. Nettle's cell phone went off again, and Leila looked up at her sister, glaring. "You're cell phone has been going off for almost an hour now. Why don't we take a break and you get that? It's rather annoying."

"Eh, it doesn't matter." Nettle waved it off.

"At least look at the caller ID. It could be Mom." Leila gave her sister an exasperated look.

"I don't want to talk to mom."

"Well, then I will. Just check." Leila sat up and gave Nettle a look like she was tired of bickering over the phone. She held her hand out for it.

Nettie rolled her eyes and pulled the phone from her pocket, placing it in Leila's hand before she went back to pounding on the wall.

Leila checked the screen just as it started ringing yet again. "Oh, it's Elijah..."

"Great. Don't answer it." Nettie waved her hand in Leila's direction.

"Why not?" Leila raised a brow, but before Nettie could reply, she picked up Elijah's call. "Hey, Nettle's phone."

"Lei!" Nettle exclaimed, looking at the red-head over her shoulder.

"She's a little busy at the moment." Leila muttered. "I'm sure she would love that. Uh huh... Alright I will let her know." Leila hung up the phone, shoving it into her back pocket.

"What the hell was that?!" Nettie said, climbing up off the floor.

"Oh nothing... He just asked if you would go to the prom... With him." Leila almost whispered, knowing Nettie would be pissed off. But like Nettie, she wanted the best for her sister. Elijah had proven to be nothing more than a gentleman. She figured, why the hell not? "I said you would go."

"You-"

"Because he's helped us out a lot and you haven't been horribly nice to him." Leila held up her finger like their mother did when she scolded them. "You'll wear a dress AND heels. Maybe if he kisses you again you might like it!"

Nettie was pretty sure her sister had gone insane but she still couldn't muster the words to explain just how mad she was at her right now. Instead she watched her sister's lips move.

"Right! Okay so you will go with Elijah and that way we both won't get stuck at home with no date to the prom." Leila grinned.

"You're sick." Nettie said finally. "I think I should call and make you an appointment with Doctor Burke."

"Nettie."

"You keep doing this to me!" Nettie stammered, her cheeks going red. "I don't want to go to a stupid dance! I don't want to wear dumb shoes!"

"You aren't five years old Nettie. It isn't the end of the world."

"SAYS YOU! YOU WON'T DIE, YOU CAN SAY THAT!" Nettie's voice grew louder. "I'm NOT GOING!"

"Yes you are!" Leila said right back sternly. "You'll go and you will LIKE IT!"

* * *

Stefan groaned as he picked up the last piece of broken furniture and tossed it outside. "Niklaus's threats were real, Damon. He'll find a way to destroy us all if we don't do anything to stop him."

"We need to find a white oak stake. That's what we need to do."

"Why do you need a white oak stake?" Nettie said, walking right into the boarding house without knocking.

"Elena has a white oak stake, Damon." Stefan looked at his brother flatly. "And she's nowhere to be found." Stefan looked to Nettie and smiled. "Hey there."

"Then we'll have Bonnie track her. Problem solved." Damon shrugged, completely ignoring Nettie's presence.

"What the hell happened to your house?" Nettle looked around a bit shocked at the sight of it. "Don't you guys ever clean up?"

"Original problems." Stefan sighed. "We may be able to track her down, Damon, but with her emotions are turned off, there's no telling if she'd willingly give up the stake. She may have other plans."

"Then we'll take it by force. Elena isn't a porcelain doll, Stefan. She's a vampire. Vampires heal." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Who are you trying to kill!" Nettie demanded, hating being left out of the conversation.

"Klaus, who else?" Damon said, finally acknowledging her. "What are you doing here Twinkles?"

"I came here to visit my dear old grandfather." She winked at him slyly before grabbing a glass of something brown. "I figure we're family now. So this is in a way, my house to."

"Someone kill me now..." Damon muttered.

"Whatever, you love me." Nettie waved him off. "Now, we should talk about more important things than killing some unknown person."

"Niklaus."

"Right, whatever." She took a huge drink of the brown stuff, coughing it up all over the floor. "That! Is disgusting!" She said, sticking out her tongue.

"Who is going to clean that up?" Damon asked her.

"Look shut up okay. Your girlfriend told Elijah I would go to prom with him. She isn't being very nice about it either. YOU need to fix it. I can't be fending that man off all night. I would rather drink more of that brown stuff."

"First of all, Leila is not my girlfriend." Damon snatched the bottle of brown liquid out of her hand. "Second, I don't fix your problems."

"Oh, speaking of Leila," Stefan interjected, "You two shared blood, and she's not your girlfriend?" He smirked.

"She told you that?" Damon's voice got a little nasty.

"Of course she told us that. She had no idea what it meant. You were supposed to be helping her figure vampire stuff out Damon. What happened?" Stefan asked his brother.

"We are getting off track AGAIN!" Nettie stomped her foot, "You need to fix this- Whatever this is so that I can stay home and eat ice cream while you two dance like weiners at prom."

"Fine, I'll fix Leila's attitude problem, but Elijah is all yours, Blondie. I'm not getting involved in that, especially after his brother just trashed the place." Damon took a swig of the drink.

"Why are you trying to kill Klaus?" She asked finally huffing boredly as she plunked down on their not so comfortable couch.

"I just said he trashed the place. Not to mention he almost killed us, and would have if Elijah hadn't intervened." Damon looked at Nettie grumpily.

"Klaus has always been a thorn in our side..." Stefan added.

"He's not so bad." Nettie said looking at the mess once again.

"Sure, you WOULD say that." Damon smirked at her. "As your grandfather, I say you're not allowed to see him. He's bad news." He measured Nettie up and down, smirking as he gave her a taste of her own medicine.

"WHAT! That is dumb. You can't tell me what to do, I'm 18." She said proudly, "Besides, technically you are dead so this would be MY house." She knew it wasn't but she wanted to bother him. "And I wasn't planning on seeing Klaus. I just don't think you should keep trying to kill him."

"When he stops trying to kill us, we'll stop trying to kill him." Stefan told her. "Don't forget, he tried to kill you."

"Yes but he didn't kill me."

"But he could have." Damon faught back. He knew their fights were childish but he had to admit he loved them.

"Why are you two fighting like toddlers?" Stefan asked.

"Shut up Stefan, we're bonding." Damon clipped, "He tried to kill you. He managed to kill Jenna, and Elena. He's bad news Nettie, and we are going to kill him."

"I'll stop you." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wow, why? You love him?" Damon pressed.

"How can I love him, I don't really know him?!" Nettie snapped finally, getting mad. "He tried to kill me!"

"I said that!"

"Well-"

"Okay enough!" Stefan yelled finally.

"Nettie, where's Leila?" Damon raised a brow.

"Home... why?"

"I just don't like the thought of her being alone... Anyone of us being alone."

"No one can get to her, none of the Originals are invited in, and Leila can't invite them in either. It has to be me!" She grinned, feeling all important. "Besides, if you care about her so much then why don't you just go check on her?"

"Fine. I will." Damon shot back.

"Good. Go."

"I'm going!"

The door slammed loudly behind him, leaving Stefan and Nettie alone together. Nettie sighed, sitting up straight. She folded her hands in her lap and grinned at Stefan. "So, I hear there might be more swords around here somewhere."

* * *

Leila put her book down at knocking on the front door. She frowned. Didn't Nettie have the key? She shrugged and stood up, walking over and peeking out the curtains of the window beside the door. "Shit, Damon?" Leila put her back to the door quickly, afraid he might have seen her.

The knocking came again. "Leila! You in there?"

Leila stayed quiet.

"Leila, c'mon! Klaus attacked me and Stefan this morning. At least let me know you're okay."

Leila's eyebrows shot up to her hairline at the news and she quickly turned around and opened the door.

A look of relief washed over Damon momentarily, before being replaced by his everyday smolder. "Hey, Red."

"Okay, you see I'm fine. Now go away." Leila frowned.

"Nettie said you weren't being very nice." He raised an eyebrow.

"Nettie always says that. I didn't do anything. Now go away." Leila told him, trying to close the door.

Damon pushed back against it, keeping it from shutting on his face. "Why don't you come outside, Leila? We need to talk. Stefan told me that he told you what all that blood sharing was about."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, just let me in alright?" He said again, pleading with her. "If I was human it would be really cold out here!"

"But you're not human. You're a vampire. The cold won't bother you."

"Leila..."

"I can't invite you inside anyway. It's Nettie's house."

"Then come outside." He countered, making puppy eyes at her.

Leila frowned at Damon's puppy eyes, feeling herself cave almost instantly. She sighed and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her. She looked up at him. "All right, I'm outside. Now stop giving me that look."

"What look?" He asked, playing coy. "Okay look, I think I gave you the wrong impression the other day."

"Oh you mean the impression that you cared about our friendship?" She asked him, raising her brow. "What about that part when I almost let you..."

"That's not what I meant." He stopped her, "I told you I thought it was best that you go. But I was wrong."

Leila stayed quiet a moment, running his words over and over in his head. Was he actually telling her the truth, or was he saying this just to have her to play around with while Elena was gone? "How do I know you're not lying, Damon? Because you have a way with words and a way with hiding the truth."

"I'm not lying." He said, unsure how else he could say it so she would believe. "I kissed Elena when we were on the Island. I wanted to believe that all the time I had wasted waiting for her had been worth it. But it didn't feel right. It isn't the same as with you."

Leila opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She stared at him for a short while before she could manage to reply. "It felt right with me?" Were Stefan and Caroline really right about Damon's feelings?

Damon moved towards her in an instant, reaching down to kiss her. He pulled away a moment and looked at her, "Different."

* * *

Nettie huffed as she made her way down First Street with Caroline. She didn't know why she had agreed to let Caroline get her a dress, but it had happened. There was no stopping the tall blonde when she had her mind set on something. "Maybe we could go for fries instead?" Nettie raised her eyes to Caroline's, "The Grill?"

"No, silly. You need a dress if you're going to Prom! Which you better now that you said something to me, since I'm on like, four of the committees." Caroline grinned. "We'll hit up the Grill after we get your dress."

Nettie grumbled under her breath. "But I'm hungry..."

"What color do you think your dress should be? You look like the sort of girl who would look good in autumn colors to me."

"What, like orange?" She scrunched her nose up at Caroline, "Gross."

"Or browns, or greens, even reds..." She looked at Nettie.

"Triple no." Nettie told her.

"Then what color would you like to wear?" She paused. "Oh! Be sure to tell your date the color so he can match!"

"That is not happening." She still wasn't sure she was even going.

Caroline stopped in front of a window and looked inside, her eyebrows raising when she noticed something. "There's a new line of makeup out! I'll be right back, Nettie. Don't go anywhere." Caroline hurried inside.

Nettie rolled her eyes at Caroline as she went inside the dumb store. She leaned against the brick wall and looked out at traffic, across the street. "Afternoon."

The silky voice of a man drifted her way and she raised her head to look at him. Her eyes widened as he passed her.

"Explain?" Caroline said, returning to find Nettie in shock.

"I think I just saw my dad!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Lemons! You've been warned!**

Damon's hands trailed down Leila's chin, pulling her closer. It was a little awkward out on the porch but for some reason he felt like stopping would ruin something he wasn't aware of just yet.

All these months of knowing Red and it had taken each and every one until the moment she had died for him to figure it all out. And the part that confused him the most was that Nettie had been right. He didn't have to stay broken. At least not by Katherine. She didn't have to define him.

Damon's hand cupped her chin as he began to push her towards the cabin wall. Leila felt her back touch the cold wood behind her, wrapping her arms up around his neck. This had better be it. She couldn't be dealing with any more of Elena's shit. He moved away from her lips, kissing a trail down her collar bone. She felt herself move up the wall and she wrapped her legs around his hips.

Damon moved frantically, pushing one hand up her short skirt. It was then that Leila realized it was all moving very quickly. She felt him rip apart her tights before she could say anything to stop the situation.

Leila just clung tighter, tilting her head back as Damon moved to kiss her shoulders, then back up to her chin. He pulled away a moment, looking at her.

Leila met his eyes, it was as though they were filled with fire as he stared down at her. It was in that moment she knew she wasn't going to say no.

Damon waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, instead dropping her head into his chest shyly, he knew it was alright. Leila's hands came down his sides, to the waistband of his pants where she fumbled with the button before unclasping it.

He shifted, pushing inside her in one fail swoop. She took a deep breath in, squeezing her eyes shut. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as she took him, her nails digging into his skin through his shirt.

Damon moaned against her hair, kissing her forehead as he pulled himself away for a moment. "Red?" He asked her softly. He looked at her with that serious Damon face.

She tried her best not to grin at him. But it felt good to see that he really did care about her. Leila didn't say anything just nodded her head and clung to him tighter, like she was expecting more.

Damon pressed against her again, going a little faster this time. Leila moaned into his shoulder and Damon couldn't help it, he felt his fangs drop, blood rushing to his eyes.

Leila touched his face, and moved to her throat. Leila tilted her head to the side, her way of giving him her okay. She knotted her fingers in his hair as his fangs grazed her skin, sending chills up and down her spine, before he bit into her.

Leila closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of Damon feeding. But when it began to make her tired she snapped out of her daze. "Damon?" She said, tapping his shoulder lightly. He hadn't stopped moving and it was beginning to get weird. "Damon!" She pushed hard on his chest but she wasn't strong enough to get him off.

Leila's eyes were drawn to Nettie's Impala pulling up the long driveway towards the cabin. Leila tried again to push Damon away, but he still wouldn't budge. "Damon, stop!"

Nettle and Caroline climbed out of the car after they'd come to a stop near the house.

Leila finally got Damon off, and he stumbled back, eyes still black, blood running down his chin and onto the porch. He was almost rabid, his eyes wild as he glared at her. "I can't stop it." He told her as he began to move towards her again. "Tell Nettie I can't stop it!"

Leila grunted loudly as Damon shoved her against the wall again. His arm rose into the air, his hand coming towards her chest quickly. It hit her at full force, jamming into her chest, digging for her heart. Leila yelled out in pain.

"What are you doing?" Nettie yelled loudly, hands burning with light as she threw Damon over the porch steps and into the dirt by the car. Nettie looked down at Damon. "Damon? What is going on?!"

"Niklaus. He compelled me." Nettie could see he was trying to fight it but he couldn't quite get there.

"Klaus did this?" Why had Klaus wanted Leila dead? Her cheeks burned at the realization. Who was she kidding? She knew he was a shitty person. At least he tried very hard to be.

She had seen what she thought was behind it all on the night he had her cure a wolf bite. He had been kind to her. "Right." Nettie said, leaning down towards Damon. "You are going to stop trying to kill Leila." She said to Damon, watching his pupils dilate in return. "Say it Damon. Now."

"I'll stop trying to kill Leila." He replied, face serious.

Caroline rushed past Damon and Nettie to Leila. She kneeled by the red-head, frowning deeply. "Are you alright?"

Leila groaned as the bite and the wound in her chest started to heal. She looked over Caroline's shoulder, to Damon. "Yeah..."

Caroline followed her gaze. "Wait for Nettie to say it's okay." She could tell Leila wanted nothing more than to see if Damon was going to be fine.

Nettie glared at Damon. "Say it again."

"I'll stop trying to kill Leila." His serious expression turned to one of guilt. "Is she okay?" He sat up.

"Damon I think you need to go." Caroline said in return, "She'll be fine. But we need you to leave."

Damon and Leila's eyes met. Leila bit her bottom lip at the pained and sorry look he gave her as he stumbled to his feet. Caroline took Leila by the arm. "Come on, you need to get inside."

Nettie looked at her sister disheveled appearance, putting two and two together. She began walking up the porch towards Leila. She calmly put her arm around her sister and lead her inside the house, inviting Caroline inside.

After Nettie and Caroline had Leila sitting on the couch, Caroline made to lock all the doors and close the curtains. "I can't believe Klaus would do this!" She yelled as she ran around.

"Lei..." Nettie sat beside Leila. "Snap out of it. You're okay, Damon will be okay. He's not compelled anymore."

"It's fine Nettie, I just need to be alone." Leila grunted as she stood up from the couch and made her way to the staircase, up to her room.

"I'm so confused." Caroline said, watching as Leila made her way up the stairs.

"I think Damon Salvatore defiled my sister." Nettie grumbled.

* * *

Klaus yelled out in agony, bloodcurdling screams. He gouged at his back, clawing and scraping as he dug into his own skin. He had to get that piece of the white oak stake out. He had to, or he would die.

Klaus toppled over against the wall, drawing his hands away from his back as he cried out. It was useless. He was getting nowhere, only creating a giant wound on his back, a bloody mess everywhere.

"Klaus, we need to talk." Nettie said, watching as Klaus dropped down onto his piano bench, "What happened to you?

"Silas. He attacked me. He stabbed me with the white oak stake. A piece of it is still inside me." He groaned in pain.

"Oh my god. But that coud kill you!" She said, moving towards him.

He laughed half-heartedly. "Well, I certainly feel like I'm dying..." He said as she reached out, running her fingers through his hair.

"Hey." She said softly. His eyes snapped up to hers. He had never heard Nettie talk to anyone this way, ever. He felt himself falter, hoping that it was real. But it wasn't. "As much as I would love to watch you die, you still haven't found me that cure."

Klaus moved away from Silas's touch. "Silas!" He fell to the floor.

"That's right. Last night I looked like Shane, today I look like Nettie, and tomorrow-who knows?"

Klaus gritted his teeth. "Show me your real face."

"Why should I when I can be anyone I want to be?" She taunted. "Resist me all you want Klaus, but until you bring me that cure I will bring you nothing but misery."

As Silas neared Klaus couldn't help but tremble in fear. But just as quickly as Silas had come, he was gone. A huge wave of relief washed over Klaus and his muscles relaxed for just a moment before a sharp pain ran up and down his spine. He reached to gouge at the wound again.

* * *

"Anybody home? Elijah!" Nettie yelled, letting herself into the Mikaelson family home. "I can only send so many messages before I get angry! You're being rude!"

"Go away!" Klaus's voice drifted towards her and she moved towards it. He didn't sound quite right...

"Klaus? Where are you-" Her eyes widened, finding him shirtless on the piano bench, leaning over it in agony. He was covered in sweat and blood. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"I need more time. Stop HOUNDING ME!" He bellowed at her. She stepped back a step, shocked that he would yell at her. Although, to be fair the last time she had seen him he had yelled exactly the same way.

"I'm hounding you? Your brother and my sister made plans for ME without involving ME. There isn't much time left!" Nettie stammered in return, crossing her arms over her chest.

Klaus blinked, examining Nettie's face. "Nettle... Is it actually you?"

Nettle raised an eyebrow, looking a tad surprised. Klaus struggled to pull himself up onto the piano bench. He slumped back against the piano. "Prove it to me."

"Okay, I don't know if this is some new way of flirting, but it sucks, and I have more important things to do. Like figure out where your brother is!" Nettie growled impatiently and turned to leave.

"Wait, please!" Klaus reached a hand out. "Silas. He stabbed me with the white oak stake." He looked slightly relieved as Nettie turned around to look at him again. "There's a-a piece of it stuck inside me." His voice sounded pained.

"Why would Silas attack you?" Nettie tilted her head to the side.

"Well, I was in no position to ask questions. Suffice it to say, I'm hurt. So you can understand why I don't want you to go yet."

"You tried to kill me. You tried to kill Stefan and Damon, and on top of that you almost got Leila killed. You think I am the one to help you?" She raised her brow and glared at him, a smug little smile playing on her lips.

"If I die, your friends die with me. Bloodlines, remember?"

"You know I'm related to them don't you?" She asked him. He stared back at her strangely. "You don't know... Look... What do you want me to do here?" She asked him.

"It's quite simple really, I need you to cut the white oak stake out of me." Klaus looked to a pair of bloodied hedge trimmers on the rug.

* * *

"I don't understand why you want me to go after Elena, Stefan." Damon said, chugging down a full glass of bourbon. Placing it down he grabbed the bottle, drinking directly from the bottle.

"Because she's been missing. I'm getting worried. You're not?" Stefan looked at Damon strangely as he chugged the entire bottle. "Are you okay? Something happen?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary BROTHER." Damon put emphasis on the last word. He sounded slightly annoyed, pissed off and wasted, even.

"Yeah well, when you begin drinking out of the bottle I get the idea you might be lying." Stefan eyed the bottle as his brother took another swig. "Look, I have to be here to deal with Silas and Bonnie. If Elena comes back with her switch off, things won't get any easier. So just... Please do this."

"You're just sore from your little break up. It's fine Stefan. I am sure she'll come running back to you once that little switch flicks back on." He wiggled his eyebrows at his brother before finishing off the bottle. "I'll go. But I won't enjoy it."

Stefan gave Damon a long, measured look. "I'm sorry if things didn't go well for you and Leila."

"Yeah well, like I said, nothing out of the ordinary."

* * *

Caroline knocked softly on Leila's bedroom door. "Leila? Leila, I'm worried. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Leila's muffled voice came from inside her room.

Caroline sighed and put her back to the door. "Did I ever tell you about the time when Damon compelled me to be his girlfriend?"

There was a silence before the doorknob jiggled. Caroline stepped back from the door and smiled at Leila when she peeked into the hallway at her. "Uhm... no..." Leila opened the door for Caroline to come inside.

"Yeah, Damon can be an ass hole. But that was a long time ago and he's different now." Caroline told her, "From what I saw, he was pretty upset back there. Maybe we don't have the full story." Caroline couldn't help but wonder why Nettie had left her here to deal with Leila. But she could relate to this issue, so she did what she could to help out.

"I just... I feel like every time Damon and I feel something real, it gets snatched away from us..." Leila sat down on her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest.

"Yes but, that's the beauty of everlasting life isn't it? We have so much time to get it right." Caroline smiled.

* * *

Klaus braced himself against his piano, gritting his teeth and holding his breath to keep from screaming as Nettie struggled to pry out the white oak stake embedded in his flesh. She couldn't even see the damn thing. How deep did Silas drive the thing? She couldn't imagining digging a hole into Niklaus's back was helping the matter.

She dug the hedge trimmers deeper, she pulled the clippers up, a strange clicking sound following, "Oh my god." She said, "You do have a heart." So many people had been trying to convince her otherwise these days. "Oh no wait." Another loud crack follwed, "Just a bloody rib." She was sort of enjoying this after what happened with Damon and Leila.

"I'm glad you find my misery so amusing." Klaus's tone was dripping sarcasm. He twitched as she dug deeper.

"Ugh, I swear there's nothing in here." Nettie groaned, pushing the trimmers even deeper. "After what you did to my family, though, this is sort of a little fun." She smiled.

"You killed Finn, and helped kill Kol to save your loved ones. You can't even get your hands a little dirty for me? And here I thought we were becoming friends."

"Well, I thought so too. Then you sicked Damon on Leila."

Nettie's words coupled with the pain of her digging into his flesh seemed to really tick Klaus off. He yelled, slamming his hand on the piano keys, an unpleasant sound coming from the piano.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Nettie frowned. "You know what?" She yanked out the hedge clippers and Niklaus screamed again. "I'm not sorry. You deserve to suffer for everything that you've done. So today, we're going to play by my rules. You want my help? You leave my family alone." She glared at him and plopped down on the sofa, tossing the hedge clippers on the side table.

After about half an hour of watching Klaus gouging at his back again. "I can feel the splinters moving towards my heart! Help me!" He glared at her.

"Your word first." She admired a shiny bracelet on her wrist, then glanced over at him.

"And what makes you think I won't simply break my word?"

Nettie raises her eyebrow. "You can't break your word to a fairy." She drops her hands in her lap. "Because if you did..." She glared daggers at him, "Your luck just might turn sour. Although it seems it may have already." She smiled, "You wanna be friends?" Klaus stayed quiet, "If being friends with Leila taught me anything, the first step to friendship is trust. Show me that I can trust you."

"I saved your life." He growled back, leaning over the sofa dramatically. "Twice."

"Because you put it in danger, twice." She shot back, unamused. "Why can't you just suck it up and do something nice for once?"

"Because your friends killed Kol." He bit out.

"You tried to kill most of us." Nettie got up from the couch, "My friendship isn't something easily gained. How do you think you deserve it when you've done nothing to earn it?" She had no idea she had even been this angry at him until right in that moment. But now it seemed to fill her up, spilling out all over the place.

"I WILL NOT HAVE MY HAND FORCED BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE." Klaus growled and staggered to his feet, walking towards her.

Nettie raised her tone of voice. "What the hell is wrong with you? I am reaching out to you despite everything that you have done. I don't even like most people Klaus, yet here I am wasting my time! And you still can't get out of your own way." Nettie turned to leave, but Klaus was right in front of her before she could even blink, blocking her way.

"Don't turn your back on me!" He yelled.

Nettie's hands balled into fists. "I should have turned my back on you ages ago!" She yelled back, jabbing his chest with her finger. She ignored the warmth she normally felt when she used her magic. Instead they glared at each other for a short while.

Suddenly, Klaus raised his eyebrows, a look of surprise washing over his expression. "It's gone..."

Nettie narrowed her eyes slightly and dropped her hand to her side. "What?"

"The pain..." Klaus reached towards the wound on his back. "The-the pain is gone..." He stood straight, looking like he just realized something. "It was... It was never there. He got in my head. Silas..." He tapped his temple. "Got inside my head."

"Sounds familiar." She muttered.

He reached out, taking her hand. "You took my mind off of it, you did something..." He looked down at her hands.

Nettie looked down at her hands too, then back up to meet Klaus's eyes on her. She couldn't help wonder why she wasn't running away or going poof. But she was still standing there in front of him.

She sighed, pulling her hand away and grabbing her phone off the coffee table. "I should go. Tell your brother I was here looking for him, alright?" She moved to leave.

Klaus reached out stopping her, "Hey. Thank you." He said, giving her a look she hadn't seen since the night of the last dance. The night he had taken care of her.

"Yeah." She said, still in a bit of shock. "Well if you need anything else, DON'T call me. I have a prom to get out of." She smiled at him. She turned again, this time adamant on leaving.

He moved so fast she couldn't see straight. They were always doing that to her and in a way she was a little jealous. Without touching her he mashed his lips on hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and her hand reached up to touch his cheek lightly.

He moved away, his eyes hopeful, "Friends?" He asked, hoping he hadn't ruined things.

"Are you going to leave my family alone?" She asked him.

"He promises.." Elijah's voice came from the open doorway.

Nettie and Niklaus turned quickly at the sound of Elijah's voice. "Brother," Klaus said, his voice a little strained.

"I should go." She said quickly. She needed to talk to Elijah but she was getting the impression she shouldn't do it at that moment.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25:**

"What kind of dreams?" Nettie asked, happy that she didn't have to look at dresses as long as she was busy talking to Bonnie.

"Usually I am at his grave and he just sort of... Appears in front of me." Bonnie was still feeling the effects or Jeremy's death. But she hadn't thought it would get this bad.

"I hear grieving is normal." Nettie said, sighing as she leaned back in the white couch. She wondered why everything in this dress shop was white.

"When I woke up the couch was on fire." Bonnie raised her brow.

"Oh, well... Is that normal?" Nettie asked her. How could she know what was usual for a witch...

"I don't know if it's because I was emotional in my dream, or if Shane was right. Without his help, I'll lose control of my magic."

"Okay, and who is Shane?" Nettie asked her. The name was familiar but she couldn't remember who it was.

"A professor... He's was trying to help me control my powers."

"Oh..." Nettie nodded her head. She still didn't know who the guy was. "Well why not mention this to him?" She asked, watching as Caroline modeled her dress.

"He's dead." Bonnie raised a brow at the blonde. How did she not know this?

"Right."

"Guys, you haven't said a thing about my dresses..." Caroline looked over at the girls.

"You look beautiful, Caroline." Bonnie smiled at her.

Caroline looked to Nettie. "We are still getting you a dress, right?"

"Uhm... I don't think I'll be going. Things have gotten... complicated." Nettie scratched the back of her head.

"Is everything okay?" Bonnie asked her. She looked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I just don't want to talk about it."

Caroline frowned at Nettie, but turned to go back into the dressing room again after a moment of silence. "So this Shane guy who you can't control your magic without is dead," Nettie said. "So what do you do about that?"

"Well..." Bonnie paused. "I was hoping maybe you could help me."

"Me?" Nettie was confused.

"Well... Yeah." Bonnie looked to Nettie hopefully. "If anyone would be able to help me, it'd be you."

"Why would you think that I could help you?" Nettie asked her. Her mind wandered as they spoke and she thought about how annoyed she was with vampires.

"Because you're magical, Nettie. And not like vampire magical or witch magical... You're something special."

"Pfft, you don't have to tell me that." Nettie grinned, winking at Bonnie. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Leila! Come out of that damn bedroom already! I'm bored!" Nettie grumbled, knocking roughly on her sister's bedroom door. "LEILA!"

Leila moved towards the door, talking through it. "Nettie, seriously." She frowned. "Can't I just have some time to myself?"

"You've had FOREVER." Nettie slammed her fist on the door again. "I'm hungry!"

"Don't you have the prom to plan for? Go get some food while you buy your dress. Problem solved." Leila said from behind the door.

"I'm not going!" Nettie said, "Elijah isn't talking to me because his brother kissed me. He's being rude!"

There was a silence and the door slowly opened. Leila looked at Nettie with wide eyes. "What happened?" She sounded flabbergasted.

"Elijah is being rude! I told you. I don't think he wants to take me anymore." Job done!

Leila stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "No, I heard that. I meant... Klaus kissed you?! And you let him?"

"Oh uh... I guess I did?" Nettie hadn't thought about it much. At least she hadn't tried to. She had focused more on how many times he has whooshed around the room, catching her off guard. She didn't like to be caught off guard. "I hadn't thought about it."

"You..." Leila looked a little ticked. "You realize that he compelled Damon to kill me? Or did you forget? You're kissing a killer!"

"I know that Leila, you don't think I know that? He tried to kill me to." Nettie grumbled, "I guess I just..."

"Just what?" Leila looked more sad than upset now. "Elijah is a good man. Klaus is just..." She didn't finish her sentence.

"Damon tried to kill Jeremy multiple times! AND you. I mean... When Stefan was compelled to hurt Elena he fought it because he loves her. Damon didn't even try!" Nettie was standing up for Niklaus for some reason.

"Are you saying you don't think Damon could ever love me?" Leila frowned deeply. "Maybe Stefan just has more willpower. You know how hard it is to fight compulsion?"

"No, I don't!" Nettie couldn't be compelled.

"Then don't judge Damon." Leila hugged herself. "Fine, make out with Klaus, go out with Klaus, I don't care. Just leave Damon out of this."

"We didn't make out!"

"Whatever!" Leila sighed grumpily. "Looks like we're both not going to prom..." She looked away, at her bedroom door. She was thinking about hiding herself away in there again.

"I don't care about PROM! It's like you never listen to me." Nettie yelled. She sighed, calming down as she glared at her sister. "Look... Just... Turn me." She said randomly. She took a small vile from her pocket, shoving it as her sister.

"But I... What?" Leila stopped mid sentence and looked at her sister, shocked. "Turn you?" She then looked down at the vile.

"Yeah, just fill that and I'll get the rest down. I think three floors should be enough to kill a person, don't you?" The house was high enough wasn't it? If she took a nose dive that would be sufficient.

"Wait..." Leila stuttered. "W-What the hell are you going on about?"

"Vampires annoy me Leila. I can't handle it anymore. I want you to fill this vile so that I can go kill myself. Bam, Nettie is a vampire! Am I speaking English here?" Nettie was getting annoyed with her sister. She was asking too many questions.

"I don't get it. Why would you want to be a vampire? Especially if they just bother you?" Leila frowned at Nettie. "Did Klaus ask you to do this?"

"I can't keep up!" Nettie slammed the vile down on the counter, sliding it towards Leila. "Just tell yourself I will die long before you do and justify it. Come on."

Leila shook her head, catching the vile as it slid in her direction. "No. I won't turn you Nettie. Being a vampire isn't all rainbows and unicorns. It's not easy." Leila put a hand up. "All these emotions I feel are heightened, I have to drink blood to survive. I don't want this for you! We both know you have problems! This will just make you crazy!"

"FINE!" Nettie yelled.

* * *

"Back so soon, Brother?" Stefan asked, looking up from his book where he sat by the fire as Damon strolled into the room. "It's only been a few days since you left."

"Elena doesn't want to be found. I give up." Damon snatched a bottle of bourbon from the table and popped the cork, taking a long drink from it.

"Talked to Leila yet?" Stefan asked, having gotten the full story while Damon was asked.

"What am I even supposed to say to her? Sorry I tried to rip your heart out while I took your virginity?" Damon started chugging down the alcohol. "Oops my bad!"

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "You need to lay off on the Bourbon."

"And you need to lay off Elena." Damon countered giving Stefan a flat look.

"Do you see me chasing her, Damon?" Stefan replied calmly.

"NO! I see you making me do the chasing so you won't seem like creepy ex boyfriend stalker!"

"WHY ARE WE YELLING?!" Nettie yelled loudly, slamming the front door.

Both the brothers looked over at Nettie's commotion. "Nettle." Stefan said in greeting.

"Great, great, great uncle Stefan." She grinned.

"What do you want?" Damon deadpanned.

"I'm meeting Bonnie here in an hour. She said you might have a ring that belonged to Jeremy."

"You mean the Gilbert family ring?" Damon nodded his head. "Yeah, we have it. But we'll hold onto it until Bon-Bon get's here. Giving you shiny things is dangerous."

"Not giving me shiny things is dangerous." Nettie stuck her tongue out at Damon.

Damon didn't answer, just chugged some more of the brown liquid.

"Really Damon. You're drunk." Stefan looked to his brother.

"Perfect! Damon we need to talk. In private." Nettie said, eyeing the amber nectar as it fell down his throat. "Please."

Damon gave Nettle a look that said he was almost afraid to be somewhere alone with her right now, but he agreed anyway. "All right. We'll go upstairs, then." Damon grabbed a second bottle of bourbon as he passed the table on his way upstairs.

* * *

"What?" Damon almost barked at her.

"I think you need to calm your boots Damon. I can fix whatever happened with my sister. I just need a little persuasion. Especially because I would be doing it out of the goodness of my heart." Nettie lied.

"Leila would hate me for doing whatever you are asking wouldn't she?" Damon raised a brow at her. He wondered if this was a trap.

"Did you not just hear my words Damon? I can fix it."

"And what do I have to do in order for you to fix it?" He asked her carefully, watching as she tucked her hand into her pocket.

"Fill this." She said, handing him the empty vile.

Damon looked at the vile a moment, like he was contemplating the situation. He finally took it from her hands and popped it open. "With what?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Blood, gross. What did you think I wanted you to fill it with?" She scrunched her nose up, "Just hurry up, I need to deal with Bonnie and I don't need her in my business."

Damon gave her a measured look before breaking the empty bottle of bourbon over his desk. He took the jagged glass to his palm and sliced it open. He squeezed his hand into a fist and filled the vial with his blood. He popped the lid back on and handed it to her.

"Thanks broody. I'll talk to my sister for you. Just... Maybe if you showed up at the prom all dressed up... It would help." She winked at him before leaving him alone to ponder over her words.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You got it?" Nettie asked Bonnie as she approached her in the graveyard. Nettie was anxious about the ring more then she was about the spell Bonnie wanted to try.

"Yes, Damon handed it over." Bonnie smiled, opening the palm of her hand. Nettie's eyes widened as she stared down at it. "It's really hard for you isn't it?" Bonnie asked Nettie.

"What is?" Nettie asked, shaking out of her daze.

"Leaving the ring alone." Bonnie watched the girl squirm a bit.

"I guess."

Bonnie looked at Nettie for a long while, like she was trying to read her or something. Whatever the reason was, it was creeping Nettie out a bit.

"All right, so what next?" Nettie asked, snapping Bonnie out of her daze.

"Oh, well..." Bonnie started walking through the graveyard and Nettie followed. Bonnie eventually crouched down beside a grave, Jeremy's grave. She looked up at Nettie and patted the ground beside her. "Sit down with me. Just take my hands." Bonnie reached out to Nettie after placing the Gilbert ring down on the gravestone.

"Kay." Nettie had no idea why she was doing this. But Bonnie was one of Leila's new friends so she was obligated.

As Nettie took Bonnie's hands and sat down beside her, Bonnie started chanting softly, in another language. Nettie watched her with curious eyes.

And then Bonnie stopped. "Okay so now close your eyes and think of Jeremy." She and Nettie both closed their eyes. Bonnie began chanting under her breath, repeating over and over.

"Do you miss me?" Jeremy's voice came from behind the girls. Nettie jumped in place, moving.

"Don't let go." Bonnie told her, looking over to Jeremy. They both stood up. Jeremy smiled at them. "Of course I miss you..." Bonnie said to Jeremy softly.

"Bonnie." Nettie said, staring ahead.

"Do you want this to be real?" Jeremy's gaze focused on Bonnie.

"Yes." Bonnie replied.

"Bonnie." Nettie repeated.

"Then it can be. Bonnie...your combined magic can bring me back for good. You have the power to do the spell now." Jeremy told her, staring strangely down at Bonnie.

"Bonnie!" Nettie stammered.

"You're not Jeremy. Silas?" Bonnie finally realized who it really was.

"That's what I was trying to tell you Bonnie. That's not Jeremy... That is Jeremy." She pointed beyond where Silas was standing. Off behind a nearby tree, Jeremy watched them quietly.

Silas reached for Bonnie's wrist but she stepped back. "You need me, Bonnie."

"I don't need you. I don't want anything to do with you. I have Nettie, she can help me."

"You have no idea how dangerous you are. If I don't help you, you'll kill yourself and your friend." Silas smirked.

"Hang on a second. We seem to be throwing around the word friend pretty loosely." Nettie tried to interrupt.

"Wake up on fire recently Bonnie?" He asked her.

Bonnie's eyes widened in shock. "Did you do that to me?"

"Please, Bonnie, let me help you."

Bonnie shook her head. "You don't care about me. You only care about bringing down the wall to the Other Side, and I won't do it."

"We need to go," Nettie said, reaching to snatch the Gilbert ring off the headstone. Jeremy vanished in the distance.

Bonnie nodded her head.

"Go!" Nettie slipped the ring into Bonnie's hand and Bonnie took off. Nettie stood her ground in front of Silas.

"What are you going to do love?" His appearance shifted to Niklaus. "You're just some tiny little human."

Her hand shot out quickly, just like she had practiced. Her light sent him flying up into the air. His body hit a nearby tree roughly and he fell to the grave below unmoving. It was becoming clear that not only could she throw people around, she could also knock them unconscious somehow.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**** Just a heads up, this story will be very Au very soon. We are going to add our own conflicts and bad guys. Hope you all can enjoy!**

Nettie took a deep breath as she stood in the woods. She opened the vial of blood and wrinkled her nose at it. Nettie squeezed her eyes shut and chugged. "Ew, gross, ew!" She spattered after swallowing the last of it.

Nettle stuffed the vial into her jacket pocket, pulling out a small dagger. The very dagger that Esther had used on Alaric. She exhaled before she reached up and sliced her throat in one fail swoop. She fell to the forest floor just outside the boarding house, watching as the world faded away.

* * *

Nettle walked up to the Boarding house, tugging the door open and stepping inside. Damon stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked at her. "Did you talk to Leila?" He raised an eyebrow. "You look a little pale. You alright?"

"Uhm, no I haven't talked to her yet, but I will. I promise." Nettie looked around the hallway. "And I'm fine. I just need... A drink."

"Kitchen's that way... But you know that." Damon thumbed in the direction of the kitchen and left her in the hallway.

She made her way into the kitchen, pulling out a bag of blood followed by a container of milk. She shoved the blood bag into her backpack, then pulled a small packet of honey out of the cupboard. She walked out of the kitchen holding the container of milk.

Damon eyed her and the entire gallon of milk, raising his brow. "What?! I need it. I'm a growing girl." She said, patting her stomach.

"...Right. Well, good luck not getting sick from that." Damon turned the other way, looking into the fireplace and sipping on his drink.

"We go through two of these a day at the cabin." She told him, plunking down to the couch. She began squeezing the packet of honey into the container. Then she shook the crap out of it.

"Well, we're not a grocery store." Damon raised a brow as she shook the gallon.

"I should hope not. I don't go to grocery stores. I'm not allowed."

"You're not allowed?" Damon actually looked slightly curious.

"Leila does all the shopping. She won't take me anymore since... You know what Damon? I don't have to explain myself to you." She said, realizing she didn't need to give him fuel to make fun of her. "I don't grocery shop. End of story. Anyways we are out of milk at the cabin and my sister won't come out of her room so I am here to consume this whole gallon then I am going to go home and yank her out by the hair." Nettie was not going to let her rot away in that room anymore.

She had a plan. "Just remember what I told you Broody. Wear that suit and be on time." She tipped the jug of milk back. Her eyes widened before she sat up and spat the milk all over the living room carpet.

"What are you doing!?" He said, jumping up from the couch.

"It's off." She said simply, handing him the container. "Honestly I know you are dead but I also know you eat so you really should be more on top of these things. Now I really have to go home and get Leila out of her room. I need milk."

* * *

Leila groaned as banging came at the door again. "Leave me alone Nettie!"

"Leila! COME OUT!"

Leila jumped when suddenly Nettie's fist came through, making a giant hole in the wood. Nettie stood wide-eyed in the doorway, looking at what she'd done. "Oops."

"Okay..." Leila rose an eyebrow.

After recovering from the shock, Nettie just reached around to the lock inside Leila's room and stepped inside.

Leila blinked, stunned.

"That's better!" Nettie dusted her hands on her lap. "Now we need to talk about the prom!"

"I don't want to..." Leila groaned, flopping back in her bed and pulling a cover over her head.

"Yeah well neither do I. But we're going." Nettie told her sternly.

"Is this how I sound? I don't like how I sound." Leila rolled over and glared at Nettle, her eyes peeking out from the covers.

"No, you're much more annoying, but you're still going... And that's beside the point!"

"I thought you didn't want to go. So just don't. Stay home, play with your shiny things." Leila sighed.

"I can't get hold of Elijah, and you told him I was going to go, so I have to go. I can't break your promise."

"Really? You're worried about Elijah's feelings?" Leila's tone was a little harsh. She was definitely implying something.

"No, I just don't like breaking promises."

"Then go without me. I didn't make any promises to anyone." Leila pulled her cover over her head again.

"You should go... Like, just go. It'll be worth your time, I promise." Nettie deadpanned, but Leila knew Nettie never broke promises.

Leila sat up. "I don't have a dress."

"I can get us both dresses with stupid shoes. You'll be the happiest vampire at the ball."

Leila couldn't help but smirk.

* * *

"KLAUS?" Nettie yelled, walking into his house. She finally finds the room Klaus is sitting in and stops, crossing her arms. "Hello? Did you not hear me?"

"Of course I heard you, Nettle. I think the whole of Mystic Falls heard you. I'm in no mood for company."

"Well, I'm sorry that you're having personal issues, but I have a real crisis on my hands. I have to get Leila a dress and stupid shoes for prom."

Klaus turned to face her and started laughing.

"It's not funny." Nettie frowned.

"No, I know, I know."

"Then STOP laughing! Prom is important to Leila!"

"And you've come to me because...?" Klaus leaned forward, elbows on his knees and fingers laced as he looked up at Nettie.

"You don't happen to have a creepy closet of family collectibles like Damon does, do you?"

"I might."

Nettie smiled. "Good! Then let's get this crisis resolved."

"Well, surely finding another dress is well within your substantial witchy capabilities?"

"I thought we were friends, Klaus?" She gave him a big grin, crossing her arms over her chest.

Klaus smiled back, happy and obviously amused. "And what about you love? Won't you be needing one?"

* * *

Leila and Nettie climbed out of the Impala at the high school. Nettie wrinkled her nose at all the flowers, the red carpet, the dancing.

"I really don't want to be here, Nettie..." Leila sighed, smoothing out her skirts. "Where in the world did you get such gorgeous dresses, though?" She glanced at her sister as she came around to stand by her. "They look like something out of a Museum."

Nettie looked down at the white sparkly mermaid cut dress, "I just.. Know people."

Leila nodded her head and groaned. "All right, time to get this night over with." She started walking down the red carpet, glancing at all the digital picture frames that flipped through pictures taken around the school of all the seniors.

"Oh look, it's Damon. I'll leave you two alone." Nettie said quickly, escaping before Leila could stop her.

"Wait, what?" She went to look at Nettle but she was already gone. She turned, blinking when her eyes met Damon's. She couldn't help but notice he was all dressed up in a suit and tie, looking rather dark and handsome. She froze as he approached.

"Did I mention I was sorry?" He asked her, moving in her direction.

"You didn't have to say anything... I could see it in your eyes, before you left." Leila rubbed her arm. "A lot was happening. It was good to have a little time to process."

"Klaus compelled me to kill you." He said, not wanting to tell her the whole story. He wasn't anywhere near ready for that truth just yet.

"I know..." She gave Damon a weary smile. "I... It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

"I figure I owe you a night filled with dancing..." He held out his hand so he could lead her to the party. "Care to take me up on the offer?" Nettie had come through for him like she had promised. But he still wondered what she had used that blood for.

Leila looked down at his hand, then took it. She grinned up at him, and squeezed it as he led her down the red carpet, to the music and dancing. "Thank you for coming here." Leila turned to face him.

"You got it Red." He smirked.

* * *

"You're that girl that my brother is into aren't you?" Rebekah asked, taking a spot next to Nettie, drink in hand.

"Who are you?" Nettie asked her, raising her brow.

"Rebekah Mikaelson. Pleasure." She said. Nettie could see she really was more curious than anything.

"Oh, you're the sister." Nettie grabbed the drink from her hand. She drank it down quickly, handing it back. "Look I don't feel that way about Elijah, so you don't have to talk to me. Okay? We don't need to bond."

Rebekah glared at the strange blonde girl a moment trying to decide if she hated her or not when Matt walked up. "Ah, Matt. I've just met Nettie here."

"Hey Nettie." Matt smiled, handing Rebekah a new glass of punch. "Heads up, it's been spiked."

"I didn't do that." Nettie said quickly, She was feeling a little queasy still. She carried the blood bag in her clutch, waiting for the right time to slip away and attempt to consume it. She hadn't worked up the nerve just yet. But she figured she must not have much longer before she had to do it.

"Say someone died with vampire blood in their system. How long would they have to feed before they died?" Nettie asked Rebekah randomly.

Rebekah gave Nettie that same strange look again. "Twenty-four hours... Why?"

"No reason. Just wondering for.. Future reference."

Matt chuckled. "I'm the only friend you have who isn't a vampire yet, Nettie. Hope you're not jinxing me or something."

"So where is Elijah?" Nettie asked Rebekah curiously. Since he had walked in on Klaus kissing her she hadn't heard one thing from him. Not even to say he wasn't coming. She had thought he would at least let her know... He was known for being overly polite, even when trying to kill a person.

"Another question?" Rebekah didn't look amused. "I don't know. Probably New Orleans. He's always there lately." Her eyes went to the door, "I am not so sure Klaus would love if he brought you anyways." She mumbled.

Matt looked between the two girls. "So you have something going on with the Mikaelsons, Nettie?" He looked really confused.

"I have nothing going on with any Mikaelson's." She said, following Rebekah's gaze towards the red carpet. Klaus had come in, dressed in a suit and tie. She swallowed nervously, "Look, I have to get out of here. Nice meeting you?" She said before slipping away.

"So Blondie ran off." Damon watched the girl slip out.Leila smiled at her sister.

"She's strange Damon but she's also useful." Bonnie told him, joining the crowd.

"She hates dances." Leila knew that. She was just glad that her sister had thought about her for once.

Bonnie sighed. "So, not to crash the party, but we have a problem."

"Problem?" Stefan asked, walking up behind the witch with a cup of punch in his hand.

"Silas came after Nettie and I today. Pretended to be Jeremy." Bonnie was still a little creeped out. "It was so real. Like I could reach out and touch him."

"That's what Silas does Bonnie. You can't let him get to you again." Stefan told her worriedly.

"Yeah," Damon chimed in, "Because you all crazy and brainwashed is just not a good look."

Leila elbowed Damon in the ribs. "Seriously, Damon?" She hissed under her breath.

"What? It's true. She looks scared." He didn't think he was being rude. He was just being himself.

"Nettie hasn't come back yet." Leila mumbled to Damon so the others wouldn't hear. "Maybe I should check on her?"

"She's probably fine Red." Damon told her. Nettie had to grow up a bit and learn to be on her own more. Otherwise he would be seeing way to much of the little blonde girl.

Leila seemed to want to chase Nettie despite his words, but she stayed by Damon's side anyway. Her eyes, however, stayed on the exit, watching for her sister.

"Nik." Rebekah said un-enthusiastically. "Why are you here?"

"You sound happy to see me sister." He smirked back. "How is the test going?"

"It's fine." She grumbled. "It would be much better if you weren't around."

"What test?" Leila asked, interrupting.

"She's practicing being nice and human. Elijah told her if she can handle it for one day then he would hand over the cure." But he wasn't planning on actually letting her take it.

"Yes, well..." Rebekah waved a hand in front of her face dismissively. "Unless Elijah sent you here to make sure I didn't screw up, we-"

"Thought I could do it, but I can't. I hate you." Leila said abruptly to Klaus. "Can we go?" She asked Damon, turning to leave before he answered.

Damon watched Leila walk away, looked back to Stefan and Bonnie, then followed the red-head. He didn't need her angry with him right now. He just wanted to get through a night without any issues.

* * *

Nettie held the clutch purse. She had no idea why people used them, they were small yes. But they were also dumb. The only reason she had grabbed it was to have someplace to jam the blood bag. That was literally the only thing in there.

She pried the bag out and threw the clutch bag over the bathroom stall. She was fairly sure it landed in the next toilet when it was followed by a large sploosh.

Nettie stared at the bag in her hand. She had to do this. She just had to. Only a couple swallows and the aching in her gums would go away. How hard could it be? She looked at the bag a moment before she finally ripped it open and began to drink it.

"I can't believe he brought her. You are so much better than that... Thing." Some random girl's voice echoed through the bathroom.

She froze on the spot. She forgot to lock the door. Her eyes felt strange and she had become really hungry. More so than usual. She began jiggling the lock on the stall, trying to get it open. She managed finally to get it open, staggering out into the large school bathroom.

"What is wrong with you?" One of the girls asked, hand on her hip.

Nettie moved before she could think straight, grabbing the first girl she could and snapping her neck. She moved for the other, stopping her from running off. "I'm so sorry." She whimpered as her teeth sunk into the red head's neck.

* * *

Klaus's eyes scanned the crowd. He was hoping to see Nettle, but she'd not been around.

"What are you looking for?" Rebekah asked Niklaus, noticing his withdraw expression.

"Have you seen Nettle?"

"She left about when you got here. She... went that way." She waved her hand in the direction of the DJ booth and bathrooms.

Niklaus made his way towards the hallway, and to the bathrooms. Elijah had gotten stuck in New York and asked him to check in on the girl. He knew she hated dances, so he figured he could talk her into leaving, maybe do something with him instead. He did need help figuring out a way to get back at Silas.

As he approached the bathrooms the smell of blood wafted towards him. He furrowed his brow. Someone had got the party started without him? He smirked, wondering if Silas had made an early appearance. Maybe it was his chance to strike.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: **

Nettie couldn't handle it, her hands were on the bathroom counter and she tried to focus on her breathing. She just hoped no one else would come in while she was still hungry. Tears fell down her cheeks, hitting the counter. She had made a huge mistake.

The bathroom door crept open. Klaus stepped inside, eyebrows raising at the sight of the two dead teenagers. "What happened here?" He asked Nettie, looking around to see if whoever had killed the teenagers was still around.

"I made a huge mistake." Nettie muttered. Her head rose slowly, and she turned to look at him. "I am so hungry."

"You've turned." Klaus sounded a little shocked, his eyes falling on the blood drying on her chin. He stepped over the bodies and crossed the room to her. "Nettle..." He put a hand on her shoulder as he knelt down to meet her eyes. "You need to retract your fangs."

"How-"

Klaus cupped her cheek in one hand and wiped away some tears with a brush of his thumb. "Focus on something other than blood."

"You don't understand. I can't." She hated that she had any tears at all. She never cried. But it was like she couldn't help it.

"How did this happen?" He asked her, trying to get her mind away from hunger.

"This is all Damon's fault." She said, touching the veiny bumps under her eyes. Damon hadn't even asked why she needed the blood. What responsible great great great grandfather would do that? Or vampire for that matter.

"Damon? Did he do this?" Klaus looked concerned... and angry. "I should have killed that petulant child when I had the chance." He growled. Nettie looked vulnerable and it wasn't helping him feel calm. He pulled out his phone and started punching the screen. "You need to get out of here. This dance is like a buffet line for baby vampires. Head to the mansion while I deal with Damon Salvatore. I will be along shortly."

Nettie grabbed Klaus's arm. "You agreed to leave my family alone."

"Are you so delusional? Damon is not your family love. He's a child caught with his pants down once again." How some people became vampires was beyond him.

"He is my family." It always made her feel a little dizzy, but there was no changing witchy DNA testing. "He defiled my great great great grandmother. We are related." He glared at her. "You can't kill him no matter how badly you want to."

For a long moment, Klaus's expression was unchanging. He really looked like he wasn't going to agree to Nettie's wishes. Then he sighed. "If he hurts you again..." His tone was threatening, venomous. "No promises, love."

"He hurts me all the time Klaus. We don't like each other." She lied. She did like Damon. She enjoyed bothering him every chance she got.

* * *

Leila sighed, clutching to her sash as she headed towards the parking lot. "I hate him. I wish he was dead!" Leila growled. "I don't get what my sister sees in that... that..."

"See, this is why we tried to kill him a few hundred times." Damon said sarcastically. "Also just for a little clarity, I doubt your sister is into Klaus. I am unsure that she is even capable of a normal relationship." He wasn't sure how Leila would take that. But someone had to say it.

Leila stopped walking and turned to face Damon. "Oh, she's into him. He kissed her, and she didn't stop it." Her eyes met Damon's, and they were icy cold. "I don't know why I am surprised about her being so... She doesn't think about anyone but herself Damon."

Damon sighed. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid, conflict with Leila... Hell, conflict in general, if just for the night. "That isn't entirely true, Red."

"It's genetic Damon." She was determined. "You do realize there are some people who just shouldn't procreate." They reached the Camaro and she sat against the cool metal. "Don't get me wrong, I do love her. I just..."

"Red."

"I doubt she even realizes he's into her. But tell me Damon, how is it possible that a psychopath with sharp teeth can even care for another person?" She hadn't realized she was this mad until it all came out.

"Leila." Damon repeated, trying to get her attention.

"No I have to get it out. I hate that man."

"Some people shouldn't procreate?" Nettie's voice came from the red carpet, her outfit stained with red.

"Nettie." Leila said, turning around to see her sister.

"You think that badly of me?" Nettie asked her, another tear falling down her cheek. Not even Leila had ever seen her cry, but she couldn't seem to stop it.

"Nettie... No, of course not. I just-" Leila covered her face with her hands.

"Why are you covered in blood Nettie?" Damon asked. Did Leila really not even notice? He began to move towards her, thinking that maybe removing her from Leila for the time being might be the best thing. But as he reached out to take her arm she threw him hard against the Camaro. She didn't use her light and even Leila had no idea what was happening.

With nothing more than a glance, Nettie was gone.

"Damon!" Leila came over to him and helped him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"What the hell was that?" Damon asked, looking in the direction of where blondie had just been.

"I-I don't know... Nettie didn't even use her Light. I don't understand how she did that."

Damon grabbed Leila's shoulder for support as he straightened himself, groaning. "There's something not right about all that blood Red."

"Have you guys seen Silas? Any surprise appearances?" Stefan and Bonnie came towards them from the party. Stefan looked very worried.

Bonnie and Stefan looked between the crying vampire and Damon. "Was he here?" Bonnie asked her softly.

"No, we haven't seen him. At least not that we know of. What happened?" Damon asked his brother, a look of concern falling over his features.

"There's been an attack. We found April bleeding out on the top floor, Rebekah healed her, but if we hadn't gotten there she would be dead... There were also two dead bodies in the girl's bathroom off the main floor. One had it's throat ripped out."

Leila ran her hand back through her hair before turning and yanking the passenger door open. She sat herself inside and slammed it shut.

Bonnie frowned at Leila, watching her cry, then looked to Damon. "Is she okay?"

"Just a little family trouble." He said, pulling them a little closer to the party for privacy. "Look, we just had a little run in with a certain blonde relative. She was covered in blood Stefan."

"You think she walked in on whoever was eating those girls?" Bonnie asked him.

"It's very possible. We need to find her and figure out who it was so we can stop them." Stefan was getting nervous about Silas. If he had begun some kind of killing spree... Then the whole town was in danger.

* * *

Leila and Damon pulled up in the driveway of the large cabin. All the lights were out other than the one on the porch. "She's not here." Damon said, "You can have one worry free night. Deal with it tomorrow." They needed time to cool off anyways.

"I wish I didn't have to be alone..." Leila sighed, glancing at the house, looking weary. Damon could imagine she was probably hungry too.

"Go inside and pick up some things. You can come back to the boarding house for the night." He climbed out and opened her door for her.

Leila stepped out of the car and looked to Damon with a small smile. "I can? You don't mind?"

"When have Stefan or I ever minded?" He raised a brow. He led her to the door and waited while she let herself inside. He followed her in and closed it behind himself.

Leila headed to the staircase up and took a glance back at Damon before she headed upstairs. Then she stopped and looked back at him again. "Damon."

"Yeah Red?" He asked from just inside the door.

She looked from him, to the door, then back at him again. "You're inside." She shook her head. "Nettie never invited you in, did she?"

He looked at her a moment before speaking, "No."

Leila shrugged it off, heading up to get her overnight bag. Damon watched her go. Once she was out of view he called Stefan.

"Stefan we may have miscalculated who attacked those girls tonight. We need to talk." He left the message and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He didn't want Leila to know about his hunch until he had talked it over with his brother and talked to Nettie. Leila didn't need to worry if he there was no reason for it.

* * *

Nettie stopped in front of the Mikaelson's mansion, looking at it through bleary eyes. She wasn't sure how she had moved so fast but she had...

What was she supposed to do now that she was here? Wait for Klaus. But why? What could he possibly do? She'd messed up, and on top of that, Leila didn't want her around anymore? The emotions flooded her and she just couldn't think straight, couldn't focus.

On top of that she had no idea how to use her vampire abilities. She also wondered if her other ones were still there? Had she ruined that by turning? She was so confused.

Nettie made her way to the big double doors and shoved them open, dragging her feet as she walked inside the carpeted sitting room. She felt a lump rising in her throat. She tried to hold it back, but more tears came anyway. Why couldn't she stop crying? "H-Hello?" She managed somehow.

"Nettie." Elijah said, joining her. He took the closest seat next to her. "What is going on?" He asked her, leaning back in his chair to watch her.

"E-Elijah, I..." Nettie bit her quivering bottom lip. "I screwed up everything. I shouldn't have done this..."

He eyed the blood, "Did someone attack you?" He asked her.

"No, I attacked them." She sucked in a breath.

Elijah was quiet a moment, like he was contemplating something. "Did your powers get out of control?"

She looked up at him, "I turned." Her cheeks grew hot, "I thought it would help me keep up with the others."

"You clearly have no idea just how much power you have Nettie. You didn't need to turn to keep up." Elijah told her. "Have you compromised your... Unique abilities?"

"I...I don't know. I can't focus, I can't. I just can't." Nettie said, wiping a tear from her cheek. She wasn't cry, but water kept leaking out. "I killed a couple people by accident tonight and Klaus made me come back here... I think I need to change my clothes, have a shower..."

"Make yourself at home, Nettle." Elijah gave her a smile. As he watched her walk up the stairs towards the bathroom he smiled. There was more about Nettie Maxwell than he had originally thought. He just hoped that when Elijah actually came home she would realize who she was really talking to.

* * *

Damon sighed, closing Leila's bedroom door as she slept and walking out into the hallway. Stefan stood out in the hall too, glancing over at his brother. "Elena's asleep," Stefan said.

"Snug like a bug in a rug," Damon replied. The brothers headed downstairs.

Damon poured them both a drink and sat down in a nearby arm chair. "So like I was saying earlier, we may have misjudged this whole Silas murdering a bunch of innocent teenagers thing."

"And what makes you say that?" Stefan took a drink from his glass. "He will do whatever he can to frighten Bonnie into doing what he wants. She's the one that found the two girls."

"Blondie walked in on Red and I having a little conversation she maybe shouldn't have over heard... She was covered in blood Stefan." It was hard to miss when it was smeared all over her white dress.

"You said that... But I thought you were sure she would know who did it?" Stefan raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"You didn't really think I'd chase after Twinkles, did you? I had to take care of Leila." Damon sighed. "Besides Stefan, I didn't exactly think she had murdered some girls for no reason in a public washroom. That doesn't exactly scream Nettie." He took a swig of his drink.

"Why do you think she did it now?" Stefan was growing confused. When Nettie had killed she had never drawn blood before... Not unless stabbing was involved.

"I took Leila to the cabin to get her things..." He paused. "And I could get inside. Nettie never invited me in."

"Okay well, how do you know that? She might have if she knew you guys were going to make up." He wasn't getting how this tied together.

"That would be one hell of a coincidence, don't you think, Brother? Nettie coming outside covered in blood the same night I'm suddenly able to get in her house?"

"We are always in danger Damon, you know that. All of us." Stefan wasn't buying it.

"I may have given her some of my blood recently." He spat it out, getting it over with. If he had known she would use it in the way he thought she had, he would never have done it. He certainly didn't need her annoying him for all eternity.

"You what?" Leila's voice drifted towards him from the stairs.

Damon cringed. He was in for it now. Just another thing to add to the list of his fuck ups.

Leila was standing beside Damon's chair in an instant, glaring down at him. "Are you saying Nettie's a vampire? Because you gave her your blood without asking why she needed it, Damon?"

"She told me she would..." He stopped himself. Nope, going any further was a bad idea. "I didn't know what she would do."

"I told you you'd had enough bourbon..." Stefan sighed.

"You were DRUNK?" Leila exclaimed. She seemed flabbergasted, and on top of that he could feel the rage radiating off of her. "Dammit Damon that's NETTIE!"

"Okay, so we know what MAY have happened tonight. Should we talk about how we are going to fix it?" Stefan said, trying to stop the fighting. They could be wrong about what happened, or that she used the blood to turn.

"It makes sense Stefan." Leila turned away from Damon, "She asked me to turn her. But I said no, I didn't think she was serious."

Damon glanced at Leila, surprised to hear that.

"Well..." Stefan said before taking a swig of his drink.

"So you know what we'll do?" Leila asked. "We'll get the cure and give it to Nettie."

"We can't just go curing people. Besides, we don't have it anymore. Elijah has it." Stefan told her. If Nettie wanted to be a vampire, he wasn't going to take it away from her. Why should they make that choice for her? "And even if we could get the cure back, she was strong before the vampire blood. Who knows what she is capable of now..."

"I don't care what she's capable of now! Nettie isn't a weapon! She's my sister! I'll force the cure down her throat if I have to!"

"Leila, calm down. Listen to yourself." Damon interjected. "You're emotions are heightened, you need to feed-"

"Shut up, Damon! We're talking about Nettie, not me!"

"We are talking about you!" Damon shot back. "Nettie got what she wanted! You are both acting like children Leila, don't pretend you aren't."

Leila took a deep breath and her eyes became watery. "Just because Nettie got what she wanted, it doesn't mean it was the right choice. If I can fix it, why shouldn't I? Tell me why I shouldn't take care of my sister, Damon."

He glared at her a moment, "I think Damon is just trying to ask you to think about it first." Stefan said, "We have been in this situation before. It's hard. But we need to at least be sure that Nettie needs our help. And we might need that cure for Silas. We can't just let him run around screwing with everyone."

Leila looked between Stefan and Damon. She took deep breaths, trying to calm down. Stefan had a point, and she knew it. She just couldn't get herself to think past her sister, especially after the things Nettie had heard her say. She felt like she owed it to her, to save her from vampirism. She knew deep down Nettie wouldn't be happy stuck that way.

"We should get some rest. We can talk to Nettie tomorrow and figure all this out." Stefan was the voice of reason this time. "Damon couldn't have known what she would do. While he should have asked, he was blinded by friendship. We can't change it."

Stefan knew why his brother had given Nettie the blood. But he also knew Damon was finding happiness and he knew that telling her the reason he made the agreement would make Leila mad once again. Sometimes he truly believed that what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you. In this case it was very true.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: **

Nettie climbed out of the shower, pulling on a white knee high dress that she had taken from Rebekah's closet.

"Feeling any better?" Klaus stepped into the doorway and leaned in it, looking at Nettie.

"A little under clothed. A bit butt hurt. The usual." Nettie said, her feet padding down the stairs towards him.

"Things will get better. You've just got to get over the first bump."

"So you say." Nettie sighed, stopping in front of him.

"You know I am a man of my word."

"When it suits you." Her eyes went from him and to Rebekah as she closed the front door.

"Ah, dear sister. How was being human for a night?" He asked, knowing that she had failed horribly.

"Don't even start with me, Nik." Rebekah frowned deeply at her brother. "I deserve the cure. I've served my time."

"But I already gave you the cure, Rebekah." Elijah's voice came as he approached his family. "Don't tell me you've misplaced it."

"What are you talking about? You never gave me the cure, Elijah." Rebekah looked at Elijah like he was crazy.

Elijah and Klaus exchanged glances. "Silas." Niklaus said, frowning.

"He was here earlier." Nettie told them, breaking the family conversation. "He was pretending to be Elijah."

Klaus looked angry. "Silas was in MY home?!"

"I just said that..." Nettie raised a brow.

"Calm down, brother..." Elijah sighed. "What's more important is focusing on getting the cure back." He glanced to Nettie. "And what brings you here tonight?"

She stared at Elijah, "I thought we weren't talking?"

Elijah frowned at her answer. "We do have some things to discuss."

Rebekah looked at the three standing with her. "I'm going to bed. You better find that cure Elijah, I was promised humanity." She pushed past Nettie, heading to her room, "Don't worry about the dress." She mumbled grumpily.

"I will leave you two to talk." Klaus smirked at Elijah.

"Have a good night, Niklaus," Elijah said in return.

* * *

"I have been rude Nettle and I apologize for that." Elijah told her.

She raised her brow at him, "At the sake of sounding naive Elijah, why did you decide not to call me back?"

He paused, watching her a moment. There was something different about her and he wasn't sure what it was just yet. "I needed some time to figure out what I was going to tell you."

"Okay..." Why were vampires so dramatic? She hoped she wouldn't become like that...

"My brother Niklaus has had a hard life. Our past is not what you would call... Tame." He handed her a glass of something brown. "He has been hardened by some of the things we have been forced to go through. It can sometimes mean him killing without remorse."

She just glared at him.

"In the thousand years that we have been alive he has never forgiven me for what I did to him when we were human."

"Okay..." She repeated, unsure of why he was still talking.

"I will give you what you wanted. I won't bother you anymore." He said simply.

Nettie didn't really know how to answer. She wasn't totally there at the moment. She was tired, hungry... "Right, well..." She stood up from where she sat. "I think I need to rest."

"Good night, Nettle." Elijah nodded his head once.

"Night." Nettie slipped out of the room.

* * *

Leila sat in the kitchen, twirling a straw in a glass of orange juice. Stefan had said that they would talk to Nettie, but he still had her waiting.

Elena came into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out a blood bag. She glanced over at Leila.

"Morning, Elena..." Leila said on a sigh.

"Good morning Red. Having fun with your stolen boy toy? You two were making a hell of a ruckus last night." Elena said as she bit into the blood bag.

Leila frowned. "Wow." She scoffed and shook her head. "You better watch it Elena. I'm not in the mood."

Damon walked into the kitchen then, looking between the girls. "Don't go starting cat fights right now. We've got more important things to be doing." He didn't look like he was in the mood for conflict either.

"My bad Damon, just wondering why this person is still in our house. Doesn't she have a home to go to?" Elena smiled sweetly.

Leila sipped her drink.

"Stop antagonizing, Elena." Damon crossed his arms.

"Oh, so you're defending her now?" Elena asked him, "You know what Damon? It's fine. You'll get bored and I'll be around when you're done." She placed the bag down on the counter. "Have a great day. I have things to do."

Leila watched as Elena strode out of the kitchen. She pushed her orange juice to the side and folded her arms on the table, resting her head on them. "You'll get bored, huh?"

"She's turned it off Leila, you know she doesn't mean that." Damon told her. "Until she's Elena again she's just a soulless nobody."

Leila got out of the chair. "But you didn't say no, Damon." She sighed and headed towards the staircase.

"We've had this conversation Leila. Frankly I am getting a little hurt that you keep assuming I am lying to you." Damon told her.

Leila looked at him over her shoulder, one hand on the banister. "We'll talk later, Damon. I have to get ready to go find Nettie." She began back up the stairs, trying to prepare herself for the next fight she was about to have.

* * *

"Look Leila, we have been looking for Nettie all day. Why not give it a break for a while? I am sure she'll be home when she's ready." Caroline said softly. She had a feeling Nettie was struggling with emotions and the fight she'd had with Leila.

"Yeah, she might come home, but I don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere on my own. And I told Damon we'd talk. God, why did I say that to him?" Leila ran a hand down her face.

"You're still figuring out this whole, being a vampire thing. Besides, with Elena hanging around all the time I am sure Damon would love to stick around the middle of nowhere with you. At least until Nettie comes home." Caroline waved Stefan over. "I was just telling Leila to give the search a break."

"She isn't going to be out about town during the day anyways. She doesn't have a daylight ring like the rest of us. So she won't be on a killing spree. We have time." Stefan told Leila.

"Okay, so I wait for Nettie to get home..." Leila looked between the two. "Then what? Tell her I'm sorry? She's never going to forgive me for what I said."

"You two have a lot of time to get over it. Damon and I didn't talk for a long time. Since he's come home we seem to be mending fences. I wouldn't worry." Damon had turned over a new leaf. Katherine had given them both the closure they had needed.

Leila looked directly at Caroline. "Also, I doubt Damon would want to spend time with me right now... We're fighting... again." She growled. "Why doesn't anyone understand that I can't control my feelings right now but you two?"

"Damon didn't seem upset. Just go home and if he acts funny, then react. Until then I am sure it's fine. New relationships can be confusing." Caroline smiled. "NOW let's do something other than walk around looking for someone we don't even know is really a vampire." She pat Leila on the back.

Leila gave Caroline a small smile and nodded her head. "Sure."

* * *

Nettie stuck her hand into the light from the open window, turning it over as she tried to figure out why she wasn't on fire. She didn't have a daylight ring and she wasn't an original family member. She should be running around screaming.

"Morning." Klaus said, entering the room. She looked up from the light and nodded.

"Shouldn't I be on fire right now?" She asked him curiously, looking back at her hand.

"You should. But it seems you are something special, love." He smirked. "You were yelling at me the other day and mentioned something I wish to discuss. But first I would like to point out that whatever you are after Damon turned you is new."

She looked up again, pulling her hand from the sunlight. "Damon didn't turn me." She said, shaking her head. "I was just angry. I get why you kill people Klaus. It's hard to push it all down."

"How did you end up eating people in public bathrooms Nettle?" He asked her curiously.

"I did it. I tricked Damon into giving me his blood and I killed myself." Nettie looked down to her feet. "I was... I wanted to be around in fifty years when my sister is. I wanted to be able to stay with her..." She hadn't even thought about it until now. But her reasons hadn't been purely selfish. Leila wasn't someone who liked being alone.

"I see." Klaus gave her a smile. "I'm sure your sister will be touched."

"No, she'll be pissed. But after last night I don't much care." Nettie was really upset at all the things she had heard her sister say about her. Unlike Leila, Nettie didn't mind solitude. A few days alone wouldn't kill her.

"After last night? And what happened last night?"

"Why do you care Klaus?" Nettie asked, raising her brow and uncrossing her arms. "Since when are you this nice?"

"Since I found someone I actually care about."

"What are you talking about?" She raised her brow, she was getting nervous all of a sudden and didn't know what to do.

"I'm talking about the little glow worm trying to stay bright during all this darkness around her." He smirked still, but it wasn't smugness. She could see that now.

"You're not serious." She said. He moved towards her, standing in front of where she stood. Then he reached out and handed her a small black box. Her eyes widened and she took it with shaky fingers. Her damn emotions getting on her nerves.

She looked at him and then back to the box. She clicked it open carefully, staring down at the white ring with dark blue sapphires. "Why are you giving me this?" She asked him, swallowing.

"It belonged to my mother." He told her. "I had it spelled not long after she gave it to me."

"It's a daylight ring." She whispered. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"You clearly don't need it. But I still want you to have it. There are some vampires out there who would hurt you to figure out how you are able to walk in the sun Nettie. You need to wear this, it will protect you." His face grew serious.

She didn't speak as he took the box back, he pulled the white gold band from the velvet and took her hand. He slid it on and pocketed the box. Then he did something super cheesy, he reached down and kissed her hand.

She looked at him as he raised his head. He moved closer, taking her lips in a long kiss. Her hand had a mind of it's own, touching his cheek. She had never thought she would ever do anything like this. But in that moment she wasn't sure she wanted it to stop.

"Get your hand off my sister." Leila said it sternly, remaining calm.

"Leila." Nettie said, moving back from Klaus. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you since you left the prom." She shook her head. "And here you are making out with... with... with this killer! This heartless murderer! I thought we talked about this, Nettie!"

"Why is everyone yelling?" Rebekah said, joining the fun. "Why are you here?"

"We aren't yelling. She's leaving." Nettie said coldly, eyeing Leila harshly. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

Leila frowned deeply at Nettie. "You.." She took a deep breath. "You are my sister, Nettie. I worry and care about you. And Klaus is everything that is wrong for you." She pressed, "You do know my sister isn't capable of whatever that was?" She asked Klaus. "She's not..."

"I'm not what Leila?" Nettie snapped, finally getting upset.

"You're not emotionally stable. God knows after what you've done it will only make things harder for you."

"Well, well, a little family drama to start the day." Rebekah said, crossing her arms as she watched.

"I think you should leave." Klaus said to Leila. "I would ask you to stay but it seems like you've made up your mind about me. But I will say one thing. I did what I had to do. You killed my brother and lied to me."

Leila looked at Nettie and then to Klaus. "You were going to kill me." She looked back to Nettie again. "And you don't seem to even give a damn." She bit her bottom lip, hands balling into fists and turned to hurry out.

"I didn't try to kill you love. I compelled Damon to kill the person he loved. How would I know it was you?" Not that it would have changed his mind. But he wasn't going to say that.

Leila froze where she stood for just a moment at Klaus's words.

"This is over. I want you to go." Nettie told her, stopping the conversation. "I'll be home tonight."

Leila didn't say anything, escaping as quickly as she could...

* * *

"DAMON!" Leila pounded on his bedroom door. "Damon answer the door!" Leila growled, looking to the door knob. She could probably just yank it open if she wanted to.

"Alright Red, hold on." Damon called, opening the door. "Hey, did you find her?" He asked, letting her into his room.

"Yes I found her!" She stepped inside and turned to look at him. "She and Klaus were eating each others faces!"

"Your sister?" He asked, pulling a shirt on.

"Yes, my sister, Damon. She's gone insane!" Leila turned and paced towards his bed. She plopped down on it and covered her face with her hands. "Why is she doing this?!"

"Doing what Red?" He asked her.

"Falling for Klaus!" She dropped her hands in her lap. Stress and worry were written across her weary features.

"Why does she do anything?" He certainly didn't know but he hoped that Nettie's sister would. They had been together for a long, long time. "She isn't an easy person Red..."

"I... I don't know anymore, Damon. It's like she's a different person." Her shoulders slumped.

"I have done a million terrible things in my long life Leila. So has Stefan. The ripper gene isn't a friendly thing." He said, surprised he was standing up for Klaus. Or was it Nettie he was standing up for?

"I... I know..." She groaned. "God, I feel like such an ass. All I do is make others mad." She sighed, moving into his chest and resting her head there. "When we were kids Nettie never once mentioned meeting someone or getting married. She never talked about having kids... But she would listen to me talk about those things." They would sit and Nettie would listen...

"I was sure that there wasn't a person out there that would ever be good enough for her. I wasn't sure there would be a person who could handle who she is let alone get past the giant barrier she puts up." She had freaked out when Elijah had tried to make a move on her...

Damon's arms came around Leila. He was fine just listening to her. He knew she needed to get it all out to someone.

She looked up at him, eyes searching him for something. "My sister is special Damon. I messed up."

"We don't have to like Klaus Leila." He told her, running his hand through her hair.

She closed her eyes at Damon's relaxing show of affection. "I just worry..."

"We all worry about Nettie. It's never going to go away Red." He had to admit he did like Nettie. When he had found out they were related he had acted like it was a pain in his ass. But he did enjoy the bickering every once and a while. Of course he wasn't going to tell anyone that.

"Damon... Thank you. I'm... sorry I've been so horrible to you." She looked up at him, chin on his chest.

"I'll live." He told her.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: **

Nettie opened the front door, stepping into the bright cabin. Leila was curled up on the couch, a book in her hands. She looked up at Nettie as she shut the door behind herself. "Nettie... You're home."

Nettie looked to Leila, dropping her keys at the door. "I said I'd be home didn't I?"

"I just..." Leila closed her book and put in on the coffee table. "Nettie, I'm sorry. I really messed up."

"Look, I get it Lei. I'm just a kid to you. How could you possibly trust me."

"You're... You're not just a kid to me. You're my sister. And I was just trying to look out for you. But listen." Leila paused just a moment, half-expecting Nettie to say something anyway.

"You don't get it so I'll spell it out for you. I don't need babysitting." She had begun to see that she had given Leila too much power. "I can do things for myself."

Leila frowned deeply, biting her bottom lip and rubbing her arm. "I never meant for it to feel that way. I'm... I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'm... I'm going out. I've been inside all day." It was taking everything Leila had not to get emotional with Nettie. She had to get away before she snapped.

Nettie sighed, sitting down next to Leila. "It was always you." She leaned on Leila's shoulder, exhaling deeply, "You were the one who was supposed to have it all."

Leila looked to Nettle, frowning a bit. "Have... it all?" She tilted her head to rest it on Nettie's.

"The big house, the dark handsome guy, kids." Everything.

"I am happy with what I have... But only if I still have you." A tear rolled down Leila's cheek.

"What you said earlier was true. I am not capable of what Klaus or Elijah want from me, but I'd like to try and be if I can." Nettie said softly, a tear fighting to break free.

"Then do that. And I'll be here to help you if you want me to be. I .. I just... Can you at least tell me why Klaus?" Leila asked gently, "After everything..."

"He takes care of me sometimes. Even when he's blind with rage... But also." Nettie giggled out of the blue, grinning, "The way he stomps around yelling at everyone and bossing them all around... I think it's funny."

Leila let out a little giggle, putting her arm around Nettie's shoulders. "Okay. I won't get in the way anymore. I promise. I just want you to be happy, and if he makes you happy... Then who am I to take that away from you?"

* * *

Leila and Nettie waved at the Salvatore brothers seated in their sitting room the following morning. "There she is." Stefan said, smiling at Nettie.

"Here I am." Nettie shrugged. "I wasn't gone that long."

"She's right. It wasn't long enough." Damon teased, pulling Nettie in and putting his arm around her.

"Eww grandad, no touchy." Nettie said, pulling away.

Leila laughed. "Hey, I don't get a hug?" She raised a brow at Damon, grinning.

"You get special naked hugs later." He gave her his trademark smolder. Leila blushed.

"STOP IT! I will have to scrub my ears with bleach..." Nettie grumbled at Damon.

Elena stopped behind the group, crossing her arms. "I'm going to have to agree with Nettie." She said, "Now why am I here? I thought this was urgent?"

"Yeah, why is she here?" Leila mumbled.

"Nettie." Stefan said, motioning towards Elena.

"Right! On it." Nettie wasn't sure it would even work but she was still hiding her vampirism so when Stefan had messaged her asking for her help she couldn't turn him down. She had said yes. She flicked her fingertips at her sides, feeling them heat up like always. She smiled, "Sorry about this Elena." She threw her light at the emotionless vampire, wrapping it around her.

"Put me down!" She yelled loudly. "You'll regret this Maxwell!"

"Oh I think I'll be fine. Most likely I won't even think about it. I have to many other things going on." Nettie said back, "I've been wanting to try something." She snapped her fingers and Elena went poof, dissapearing.

"What the hell was that Nettie?!" Leila said, panicking.

"Well if it worked she will be in the cell down stairs. If it didn't who knows? She could be anywhere, or dead." Nettie shrugged.

"Whoa, hey now." Stefan gave Nettie a worried look.

"She's probably fine. Give Twinkles a little more credit, Brother." Damon said dismissively.

* * *

"It worked!" Nettie grinned at Leila. "Look Lei. Although I won't lie, I was sorta hoping to see what happens if it goes wrong..." She pursed her lips, thinking about Elena floating around someplace in a thousand tiny pieces.

Leila frowned. "Bad Nettie. Bad. She's been a real ass to me since she's turned her emotions off, but I wouldn't want to see Elena hurt. She's in there somewhere."

Leila had given Nettie the speech at least a hundred times before when she was younger. Even if she didn't think about other people's well being, she had to pretend she did. Or at least that's what Nettie took from it. There were very few people she liked in this world.

"Sounds like someone actually listened to me." Damon clapped his hands on Leila's shoulders from behind her, smiling. "Just ignore what she says until she flicks the switch to get her emotions back." He squeezed her shoulders in a massaging manner. "Someone should tell Stefan she's down here and a-okay."

"I'll tell him." Nettie said, excited to get out of the dungeness basement.

"What's the first step?" Leila asked, watching Elena Gilbert through the door.

"Well..." Damon looked in at Elena as well. "A trip down memory lane is where Stefan and I decided to start."

"What kind of memories?" Leila asked him.

"Don't worry Red." Damon could tell Leila was thinking about his relationship with Elena. It was written all over her face.

"Who's worried?" She said, remembering her encounter with Niklaus in the mansion.

"There ya go." Damon messed her hair.

"Okay so... How do we do it?" She asked him, still trying to learn about the process.

"Well, you have to get in her head. Close your eyes, recall the memories and project them on Elena."

"Could she be compelled to turn it back on? Wouldn't that be easier?" Leila asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"How would we-" Damon's eyes widened at her idea. "Nettie." Leila began nodding, "How could we forget that?"

Leila shrugged. "I don't know, but I'll get her. Be right back!" Leila bounded up the steps to the first floor.

* * *

"Nettie! Nettie! Damon and I-" Leila stopped when she got to the kitchen entryway, her eyebrows raising and jaw dropping.

Nettie looked up from the blood bag in her hands and wiped the red off her mouth. "Want some?" She asked, not knowing what else to do. It was making her nervous and she always said the wrong thing when she was nervous.

"We... were right..." Leila said on a breath. "You're a vampire."

"We don't need labels..." Nettie muttered. Looking everywhere but Leila.

"Hey, why can't you look at me?" Leila took a step towards her sister. "Nettie, it's okay. I'm not upset. I already blew up on Damon about it the other day."

"Oh. Kay well hang on." She said, biting back into the bag and polishing it off. "Klaus found me. I may have killed two people in a bathroom."

"Yeah we thought that might have been the case. The three of us put two-and-two together when Damon admitted to giving you his blood without knowing why you wanted it."

"Yep, we made a trade. Fair and square." Nettie told her sister.

"Wait, traded what?" She tilted her head to the side. "He didn't mention trading you something for it."

"He didn't?" She eyed Leila, "Oh. I was wrong. I tricked him... What did you come up here for?" She asked, changing the subject.

Leila furrowed her brow but dropped the subject. "Damon and I just figured out the easiest way to get Elena to turn her emotions back on and we need you for it... But did you tell Stefan she was okay?"

"Yeah, he said he was going down there. What's the plan?" Nettie didn't know why she had to be involved, she didn't even really like Elena very much.

"Remember when Klaus..." Leila stopped. "When you had to compel Damon? We need you to compel Elena to turn her emotions back on. Vampires can't compel other vampires, but... well you can."

"Uh huh... Does that mean she's going to cry at me?" Nettie raised her brow at her sister. She hated crying.

"You can compel her and go if that's what you want. Let Stefan and Damon deal with the emotional part."

* * *

Nettie leaned down, looking into Elena's eyes. "This isn't going to work, you know that don't you? You can't compel a vampire Maxwell." Elena seethed, pulling at her binds.

Nettie placed her hands over Elena's, "Just shut up okay?" She asked her, even though it was likely Elena would keep yapping at her. Glaring at Elena she ordered her to turn it back on. "Elena, turn your emotions back on BUT don't cry while I am in the room. Hold that shit in until I am gone." Elena's eyes dilated, going back to normal. Her eyes glossed over and she stared up at Nettie.

"Alright! I'm done!" Nettie said, leaving Elena in the chair. As soon as she had switched spots with Stefan, closing the door behind them, Elena began crying.

Leila and Damon exchanged happy glances. It had worked! Stefan hurried to Elena's side ready to pick up the pieces of what she had done. Damon pulled out his phone and messaged Bonnie. She had been hiding out since Silas began messing with her and Nettie.

* * *

"Did I mention I am sorry that I doubted you again?" Leila sighed, half smiling at Damon while they walked through the woods. "I know you aren't into Elena."

"It's fine, Red. Really. Stop stressing so much." He squeezed her hand as he held a tree branch up for her to duck under. "I think you stress enough for all of Mystic Falls." He smiled at her teasingly.

"I would say Caroline stresses enough for all of Mystic Falls, Damon. My worry is weak in comparison." She laughed.

"Maybe."

Leila led Damon over to a large tree, turned and leaned against it, still holding his hand. "I'm glad Nettie has forgiven me. It's thanks to you, Damon."

"I guess I never told you that Nettie is a lot like Elizabeth. Toned down a lot, but still... There are many resemblances." He smirked at her.

"It's nice knowing about Nettie's biological family. I wish I could know more." She looked Damon up and down. "A little strange that you're my sister's grandfather, but..." She gave him a flirty smile. "She and I aren't blood, thankfully."

Damon took a step closer to Leila, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thankfully. I couldn't imagine how rough it would be to not be able to touch you."

Leila took a breath as Damon pressed her against the tree, his breath tickling her ear. She closed her eyes and he placed soft kisses along her jawline.

"It's nice to have it out in the open isn't it?" Damon crooned in her ear.

Leila opened her eyes and furrowed her brow. "Have what out in the open?"

"You know I love you, Leila. You know about Klaus's compulsion."

Leila frowned and leaned away from him. "I... never told you that." Her eyes explored his for an answer. "How...?"

Damon planted more kisses on Leila's face. She slipped out of his embrace, away from the tree. "Where's Damon?"

Damon frowned. "Leila, what's wrong? You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Silas, quit with the games."

Silas moved from the tree to the spot right in front of her in the blink of an eye. He narrowed his eyes. She never had imagined Damon looking this evil, this horrifying. But it isn't Damon, she kept telling herself.

"Where's Nettle?" Silas moved behind her. Leila froze. "I need you to do something for me. I need you to deliver a message." His hands came around to her face and Leila held her breath. He leaned in close to speak in her ear. "If Bonnie continues to refuse me I will look into your sister's strange ability to overpower me. As it stands all I want is for Bonnie to destroy the other side so that I can die in peace. If I don't get what I want... Things will become hard for you and your friends; starting with Nettie."

"You actually think you can touch Nettie? You'll have to get through me first."

"I intend to send a message." Silas stabbed Leila in the stomach with a stake and she yelled out, falling to her knees. "And you're the messenger."

Silas backed up and ran off and Leila fell unconscious.

* * *

Nettie, Bonnie and Katherine sat a table in a diner. Nettie drummed her fingers on her arm, not exactly wanting to be there. Bonnie had called begging for her help though. And Bonnie had been good to her. She felt bad saying no.

"Okay, let me get this straight: you want me to hand over Silas' tombstone? What makes you think I even have it?" Katherine asked, eyeing Bonnie.

"I know you took it from the island. You're a scavenger; you'd never leave it behind." Bonnie knew she had it.

"So, you're working for Silas now, huh? Running errands for the big, bad immortal?" Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't switch sides. In two days, there'll be a full moon. Silas wants me to harness its power to drop the veil between our side and the Other Side. He wants to take the cure, and then he wants to die. I said I'd help him and I've been hiding from him ever since, buying time." Bonnie said and sighed. Katherine was never easy to persuade into doing something.

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "Time for what?"

Bonnie shook her head. "You don't need to worry about it. You just need to bring me the tombstone."

"It's a hunk of rock." Katherine said matter-of-factly. "What do you even want with it?"

"The less you know, the better. Silas is psychic; he can get into people's heads, read their minds, make them see things that aren't really there. I'm taking a big enough risk just talking to you." Bonnie leaned back in her seat as she spoke.

"Okay then. How do I know that you're not him?" Katherine smirked.

"You don't, but I'm not." Bonnie's expression was serious.

"She's not." Nettie said, "I don't see what the big fuss is. It's pretty obvious when it's Silas." Nettie wasn't sure if anyone else had even payed attention. "He can't hide his face no matter who he is pretending to be. It flickers like a broken television."

"He can't get into my head anymore, Nettie and I are the only one's who can see his true face." Bonnie explained.

"What's in it for me?" Katherine put her hand down and returned Bonnie's serious look with one of her own. No way was she helping the witch if she wasn't getting compensated.

"Bring me the tombstone, help Nettie and I stop Silas from unleashing hell on earth. Believe me, I'll make it worth your while." There was no doubt in the look on the Bennet's face.

* * *

Nettie rubbed her eyes, kicking her legs over the edge of the couch where she had fallen asleep waiting for Leila. She blinked, looking at the flashing clock. "3am?" She said, watching as the door crept open. "Leila?"

Leila slipped inside, looking over to Nettie immediately. She kept her hand on the doorknob. "I-Is it really you?" She stammered.

"Uh, I should hope so? Why? Do I look like someone else?" Nettie said worriedly, looking down at herself. "What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?" Nettie asked her, noticing that Leila had a hole in her shirt, stained with blood.

"S-Silas. He pretended to be Damon. He... He staked me." Leila put her hand over the hole in her shirt, then looked back at Nettie. "I've never been staked before."

"Well neither have I... What did it feel like?" Nettie asked, forgetting about the danger her sister had been in.

"Nettie!" Leila looked horrible. "Silas is out there!"

"He's been out there for a while now Lei. It's not a shocker... He was at Klaus's place when I stayed there. He was trying to trick me into thinking he was Elijah. But he really is terrible at it."

"No he's not. I really thought he was Damon, Nettie. If anyone would be able to tell the difference between him and Silas, I'd think it'd be me." Leila crossed the room to her sister after closing and locking the door.

"I could tell you if it had been Silas just from seeing his face..." She was confused again.

"How Nettie? Why can't any of us? Why just you? I don't want to be afraid of my friends." Leila was shaking.

"I don't know okay. I just can. It takes like no effort at all. In fact I would go as far as saying he is REALLY bad at it." Nettie sighed, "Why did he stab you Leila?" She asked.

Leila sat down next to her sister and grabbed a throw pillow, hugging it. "He was trying to get a message across. To you and Bonnie..."

"Why didn't he just tell us himself?" Nettie grumbled, "I am seriously not hard to find."

Leila shook her head. "I-I don't know. But does it matter? It's happened." She bit her lip. "He said Bonnie better destroy the Other Side or he'll come after you next and make all our lives a living hell."

"He can try." Nettie scoffed.

"If the others and I can't tell who he is, he'll kill us off one-by-one, Nettie." Leila kicked her high-tops off her feet and curled up on the couch.

"I doubt it Leila. How would that get him what he wanted? He is just being a child about all this. Stomping his foot because he isn't getting his way. It is a bit like Klaus don't you think?" She smiled, "The only difference is Klaus would follow through even if it meant him not getting what he wanted."

Leila pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time. She tossed it on the coffee table and sighed. "I guess you're right..."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right." She pat her sister on the shoulder. "And now I am going to bed because it's been a long day filled with me doing things I didn't want to do." She yawned, and got up off the couch, "Night Lei."

"Night Nettie." Leila snuggled up against the pillow and closed her eyes, too exhausted to stand.

As Nettie reached the top of the stairs she felt her phone buzz in her pocket, pulling it out she checked her messages.

**Klaus: Have to leave town for a few days. Would like to take you out when I get back. Sleep well glow worm.**

She smiled, hitting the keypad.

**Nettie: Sounds** **horribly boring. Can't wait. **

Then she headed off to her giant cozy bed filled with ten pillows.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: **

"So, let me get this straight: we send out a notice of our impending graduation and people feel obliged to give us money?" Nettie asked Caroline. It was one of the first times the whole group of friends sat around a table, relaxing since Leila and Nettie joined up.

"Pretty much." Matt told her shrugging.

"Don't expect money from mom..." Leila half-frowned. "She called me, said she's upset that we haven't been around."

"Damon has to give me money because we are family." She nudged Damon's side. "So I'm not too worried." She shoved an onion ring into her mouth.

"Plus, you know, all that money you have in the bank," Leila pointed out.

Damon raised an eyebrow at Nettie. "Yeah, pull out of that stash. I'm not sharing."

"These traditions weren't created by my generation Damon. Suck it up and hand over the goods." Nettie told him grumpily, waving an onion ring in his face.

Damon plucked the onion ring right out of Nettie's hand and popped it into his mouth. "Thanks, Blondie. Yum." He smirked.

Her cheeks grew hot and she poked him on the nose, little electric shocks passing from her, to him. She could tell it hurt too, because he jumped back. "No! Bad Damon! That was MY onion ring."

Leila couldn't help but giggle. Even she saw something like that coming.

"You guys are crazy." Caroline said. She pushed some envelopes Leila's way. "Help me finish stamping these?"

"Sure." Leila began the chore.

"I need to leave." Nettie said, shoving Damon. "Move."

He smirked, sliding out of the booth seats. "Where you off to blondie?" He asked her, raising a brow as she pulled on a jacket.

"It's none of your business Broody. Sit back down and focus on not eating other peoples food. I'll be back later." Leila gave her sister a funny look, "I'll be fine." She told her.

Nettie had made a choice recently after her fight with Leila. She was going to become more independent. This was a good time to start. "Make sure he practices." She said, pointing to Damon, squinting.

"You got it Nettie." Leila smiled, grabbing a French fry off Damon's plate and munching on it.

"You really going to let her go without telling us where?" Damon teased Leila, "What if she goes to a grocery store?"

Leila coughed on a fry, "How did you know about that?!"

* * *

"Could you be any creepier?" Katherine stood in the cold, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Bonnie and Nettie.

"You want us to make you truly immortal so that nothing can kill you. To do that we need to talk to Qetsiyah, which means we need to lower the veil to the Other Side." Bonnie said, opening one eye and looking at Katherine.

There was no way that Nettie was giving anyone Immortality. She was going along with Bonnie's plan to trick Katherine into giving them what they needed. After that... They would let her down hard.

"That still doesn't explain why you made me trudge through mud in five-hundred dollar boots." Katherine put a hand on her hip, looking a tad annoyed.

"Nobody told you to wear five hundred dollar boots. Who wears five hundred dollar boots into the woods anyways?" Nettie asked her, opening one eye to see her reaction.

Katherine rolled her eyes and went to snap back at Nettie, but Bonnie stood and started talking before she could say anything. "A few miles that way," Bonnie pointed to her left. "Twelve hybrids were killed at the Lockwood Cellar. And a few miles that way," She pointed in the other direction. "Twelve humans died at the Young Farm. And this is the sire where twelve witches were killed."

"Fourteen, if you don't get to the point." Katherine said impatiently.

"More like thirteen." Nettie mumbled under her breath.

"It's the Expression triangle. We need to charge all three points and channel the mystical energy from Silas' tombstone. Once that happens, we can drop the veil inside the three points and just long enough to get what we need." And she figured Nettie's power would add the extra kick she would need to hold it long enough.

"And what exactly do you need?" Katherine looked at Bonnie.

"Silas has done nothing but torment my friends. Now he wants to unleash hell on Earth. He's evil. In two thousand years, only one person has been able to put him down." Bonnie explained.

"Qetsiyah." Katherine said, finally understanding.

"If I can contact her, I can ask her how to do it. Now, hand me the rock." She held her hand out in Katherine's direction.

"You're gonna flood Mystic Falls with dead, supernatural creatures so that you can "ask" a two thousand year old witch to do, not one, but two favors?" She laughed, "I think I'll take my business elsewhere." She turned to walk away.

"Nettie." Bonnie said, eyeing the blonde girl. Nettie nodded, flicking her hand in Katherine's direction. Her light wrapped around Katherine, holding her still.

"What the hell?" Katherine growled.

"I linked us. As long as we need you, you aren't going anywhere." Nettie told her.

Bonnie smiled at Nettie, then held her hand out for the rock again. "Silas can be anyone. If he gets in your head and figures out that I don't need a full moon to do the spell, it's over." She grinned smugly at Katherine. "Now, about that tombstone."

* * *

"I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here..." Leila put a hand over her nose, looking away from the passing cart of blood bags. "I really shouldn't be here."

"You're fine Red. You can do this." Damon slung an arm over her shoulders.

"He's right Leila." Stefan added, giving her a reassuring smile.

Sheriff Forbes walked over with a clipboard in her hands. She smiled at the trio. "Hey guys, thanks for coming."

"Hey." Stefan nodded his head in greeting.

"Why were we invited?" Damon raised an eyebrow at Caroline's mother.

"Well," Liz started, "The hospital has kept the blood banks empty ever since they were raided last month. We thought at the very least it would help keep the vampire population away."

"And it didn't?" Stefan could tell by the look on her face.

"See for yourself."

Leila tensed at Damon's side as they were led into a room, where a body laid with it's wrists torn up, bloodied. She grabbed a fistful of Damon's shirt, swallowing the urge. He pat her arm.

"Well look at that," Damon said.

"There are four other victims in this wing, each one almost completely drained of blood. You think it's Silas?" Sheriff Forbes turned to the group.

"Or a doctor with some very questionable bedside manners." Damon suggested. Leila sighed. It was obvious Silas was behind this.

"But five victims? That's a lot of blood, and it's not like he can take it with him." Liz shrugged.

"Unless he's fueling up for something big." Stefan put a hand to his chin.

"Big? Any details would be helpful, considering I'm dealing with five grieving families out there and a psychic killer on the loose." Liz frowned.

"Silas wants Bonnie to do a spell to drop the veil to the Other Side," Damon explained.

"I have no idea what that means." Liz crossed her arms, looking to Damon for further explanation.

"It's an invisible wall that separates our plane from the plane of all the dead supernatural creatures. Now, Silas wants that to go away so he can take the cure, die, and not have to spend an eternity in a supernatural purgatory." Damon continued.

"And when do you suppose Silas plans on doing this?" The sheriff dropped her hands to her side.

"Next full moon. Tomorrow night." Damon replied.

"All right.. Well, thank you for the information guys." Liz nodded and gave them a weary smile.

"We're done? We can go now?" Leila looked to Damon and Stefan with hope-filled eyes. "Please?"

* * *

"Ugh, the Lockwood cellar smells like dog. I'm staying up here." Katherine said, trying to stay at the top of the stairs.

"Do I have to make you?" Nettie asked her, moving her hand up.

"You realize I'm not just some wandering child in a supermarket, right? I'm a vampire that can kill you." Katherine asked her, stepping back.

Bonnie moved down the stairs, getting ready to perform the next spell.

* * *

Leila, Stefan, Damon, Elena and Caroline sat in The Grill. "I thought it was supposed to rain tonight." Caroline said, trying to make small talk.

"What? Do I look like a meteorologist?" Damon asked her.

Leila bit into the blood bag in her hands. "Oh, thank goodness," She said on a breath, drinking from it. Relief washed over her in seconds. She'd been craving blood ever since they had arrived at the hospital earlier. Now she could have some in the privacy of the small booth.

"You do realize waiting that long to feed is bad right?" Elena asked her, "We aren't all Stefan. We can eat people without killing them."

"I'll... be fine," she said meekly, looking up at Elena. "I still don't like the idea of... feeding too much."

"You've been a vampire longer than your sister but she's eaten from more people than you. I wonder why she takes to it better?" Elena pressed Leila.

"Wait, Nettie is a vampire? We know that now?" Damon asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah... Did I forget to tell you?" Leila glanced at Damon. "Sorry, I've been a scatterbrain." She bit into the blood bag again.

"But..."

"I know she killed those girls, but Klaus seemed to help her calm down. And I know she's been feeding here... I just thought if it wasn't an issue, then why make it one..." She told Damon.

"She's been using her abilities since that night... Does that mean it just gave her more?" Now she had vampire powers too. Stefan had a worried look on his face when he asked Leila.

"I'm not sure. I mean, it's possible I guess." She looked to her empty blood bag and frowned slightly. She was still so hungry.

"Do you want another?" Caroline asked Leila, noticing the look.

Leila shook her head. "No, I'm fine. All full." She leaned back into the sofa just as the lights in The Grill started flickering. The place was black in a matter of seconds.

"Uhm..." Elena looked around the room.

"What the hell?" Damon sat forward.

Caroline stood up and glanced out the window. Debris was being blown down the streets, heavy objects making loud sounds as they broke apart in the harsh winds outside. "I'll call my mom... Maybe she knows what's going on."

* * *

"Why are we here?" Katherine deadpanned, tired of being dragged here and there.

"Twelve witches died in vain here. We will draw energy from this spot." Bonnie told her.

"Then what?" She asked.

"Then we drop veil." Nettie said, watching to make sure Katherine didn't try to escape. Looking back to Bonnie they joined hands, Bonnie chanting. The lights flickered, going out.

"What was that?" Katherine looked around them.

"That was it... Now it's time to drop the veil."

* * *

"The power outages originated at 3 different places in town: the Young farm, the Lockwood estate, and a blown transformer off Old Miller Road." Damon said, hanging up on Sheriff Forbes.

"Well, those are the locations of the Silas massacres. It's the Expression triangle. Bonnie must be doing the spell." Stefan said, eyeing the locations on his phone.

"Wait, I thought we had more time?" Leila asked. "I thought you said she needed a full moon?"

"And there's something else: one of the power company guys saw Bonnie and Nettie leaving the Young farm an hour ago...with Elena." Damon said, passing on what Liz had told him.

"Katherine." Elena said angrily.

"So how do we find them?" Caroline asked. Leila began to grow panicked as she listened to the group.

"Nettie went with Bonnie..." She muttered, upset that Nettie hadn't told her.

"Well, they must be somewhere in the triangle. My guess is that they would be right in the middle." Stefan showed them the map on his phone. "Here."

* * *

"Okay, this is the center of the triangle. We're ready. Now, give me the tombstone." Bonnie reached out to Katherine.

"The fact that this spell hinges on some crappy hunk of blood-rock does little to inspire my confidence." Katherine said, handing the stone over to Bonnie.

"It's filled with the calcified blood of Qetsiyah, one of the strongest witches in the world. It'll work." Bonnie gave Katherine a determined nod.

Bonnie held the tombstone with Nettie, concentrating on it. The rock began bleeding, oozing out like it was wounded somehow, dripping into the dirt at their feet.

"What is going on?" Katherine's nose scrunched up at the sight of it.

"We're channeling the expression triangle." Bonnie told her, starting to get annoyed. Katherine wouldn't stop asking questions; distracting her.

The candle-lights all around them shot back to life, "There. It's done, the veil is down." Nettie smiled, letting go of the rock.

* * *

Damon, Stefan, Leila, Caroline and Elena stood in the hallways in the school. "We're in the right place," Stefan said. "Just the wrong elevation. We need to go below."

"If I remember correctly, I think there's an entrance in the basement," Damon said.

"Well, where's the basement?" Stefan looked at the others.

"Off the boiler room," Elena replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Caroline asked.

"Someone needs to stay up here, in case Silas tries to get away," Stefan said.

"I will," Caroline nodded.

"I'll stay with her," Elena added. "It's safer in numbers."

Leila looked between the girls and the brothers. She would be useless no matter who she went with. She still didn't know how to use the abilities being a vampire granted her. Her and Damon hadn't had many chances to practice.

"Stay with Caroline and Elena, Red. It's safer." Damon said.

"But Nettie could be down there..." Leila gave Damon a worried look.

"I won't let anything happen to her." Damon gave Leila a small, reassuring smile. "She's family." He said, trying to get her to understand.

Leila hesitated before nodding her head. "Okay. I trust you."

"Right. Let's go." Stefan said, motioning for Damon to follow with a wave of his arm. The brothers dashed off down the hallway.

Elena looked after the men with a slightly worried expression on her face. Leila frowned.

"They'll be fine. All of them," Caroline said. "They're strong."

"Need a hand, girls?" A voice came from behind the three. They turned, meeting Alaric's smiling face.

Elena's jaw dropped. "Alaric?"

"Wait..." Leila took a step back. "How do we know you're not Silas?"

"I'm not Silas." He said, shrugging.

"Tell us something Silas wouldn't know." Elena said.

"Jenna always had hot fudge on her pancakes, Saturdays." He smiled, remembering her. "We would always tease her about it."

A look of joy washed over Elena's expression and she ran to Alaric, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tight.

Alaric chuckled. "It's good to see you too, Elena."

"Wait... If we can see you... "Caroline paused as she pondered something. "That means Bonnie did it. She dropped the veil."

"Well, no completely." Elena stepped back from Alaric. "It's only down inside the Expression triangle. If I step outside of it, it's back to ghost world."

"Well, where's everyone else? If the veil is down, there should be ghosts everywhere, shouldn't there?" Leila asked.

"Well, not every ghost has a reason to come back to Mystic Falls. Just the ones like me, looking after their friends."

"I'm more worried about the ones looking out for their enemies?" Elena frowned.

* * *

"Tick-tock, girls..." Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Stop talking. We can't reach out to Qetsiyah with you breaking our concentration every five seconds." Bonnie frowned deeply.

"Seriously, you're getting on my nerves. I can make you go poof you know." Nettie glanced at Katherine, glaring.

Katherine frowned in return and sighed loudly. She stared ahead at Bonnie and Nettie, looking really ticked. "I can hear footsteps."

"Who cares?" Nettie grumbled at her, "Shut up."

"Hello, vampire hearing. Just give me a shorter leash." Katherine begged.

"She isn't lying." Nettie told Bonnie. The witch nodded, "Fine, go." Nettie said, "It'll be a hundred times easier on us."

Katherine smirked and walked away, deeper into the tunnels.

"Finally..." Bonnie murmured.

Caroline slipped into the cave, past Katherine as she exited. "Oh my god, guys. This veil thing is causing a storm up there..." She paused. "The veil's already down... What are you two still doing down here?"

"Waiting for Qetsiyah." Bonnie said, her eyes remaining closed as she continued to concentrate.

"You might be waiting for a while." Caroline said matter-of-factly.

Nettie opened her eyes and looked to Caroline. She reached out, hitting Silas with her light, watching as it entwined around him. "Nettie what are you-" Bonnie turned around, finding Silas floating in mid air, unable to move. "Silas... But I saw Caroline, I thought..."

"You saw what I wanted you to see. I can make you see whatever I want you to. Am I a disfigured monster?" He asked her, smiling.

"He's-"

Silas interrupted Nettie, "Put me down fairy." Silas spat. Nettie's eyes widened, "Let me down and I'll tell you everything you could possibly want to know about your kind."

"M-My kind..." Nettie looked between Bonnie and Silas.

"Nettie, I am sorry. We don't have time for this. I need to contact her NOW." Bonnie told her, moving back to the stone. "You need to keep him there. It's the only way we both don't die right now."

"Just let me go, you finish the spell. Then, when the veil is dropped completely, I can take the cure." He told them. "I just want to pass on. I'll even let you kill me. I'll be out of your lives for good." He pleaded with her.

"But after you're dead, all the dead souls that were stuck behind that veil will be stuck here." She shook her head.

"If you don't help me then you'll be letting me roam the earth." He countered, still suspended above Nettie. "I'm curious: what was your plan? Pow-wow with Qetsiyah? Brainstorm ways to put me down? Qetsiyah's not coming. She wants me on the Other Side with her - for eternity."

"What is it with supernatural's and eternity. Why does everyone need an eternity? God, if I had to be around my friends for ever I would go insane." Nettie told them.

"Oh I am sure you won't have any trouble going insane." Silas said, smiling like he knew something she didn't.

"BONNIE?" Damon's voice drew Nettie's attention away from Silas, she dropped him to the dirt below. "NETTIE?"

"I wonder who that might be?" Silas said, whooshing away before Nettie could stop him.

* * *

Damon stood still, Silas's body at his feet. "Good work Bon-Bon." He smirked, "I suppose I have to carry him?"

"I need to stay to close the veil... I can't help. Sorry."

Nettie looked at her confused, "I thought we decided she wasn't coming..." She eyed Bonnie.

"We did, I just have one more thing I need to do. You two get Silas up to the surface." She told them. "Thank you Nettie, I couldn't have done this without you." She smiled softly, something in her eyes telling Nettie something was wrong. But she shrugged it off and knelt to help Damon carry Silas from the tunnels.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31:**

There was loud music coming from the boarding house when Damon finally got Nettie, Elena and Leila back. Silas was in a safe place and they were all exhausted. He pushed the door open.

"Lexi?" Elena said, laughing as the vampire jumped down off the couch and began dancing towards Elena to Bon Jovi. Stefan was downing a bottle of Damon's good stuff.

"Damon! Help Me celebrate my 17th graduation." Stefan grinned. "You remember my good friend Lexi don't you?"

"Lexi, back from the dead. Goody." Damon said sarcastically.

Leila furrowed her brow at Damon and looked between him and the dancing vampire. Lexi moved towards him, wrapping her arm around his neck, "How's it goin' buzzkill?" She asked him grinning.

"Stefan, you're just gonna sit there and let her enact her ghostly revenge?" Damon asked, taking her arm off his neck and heading for the booze.

"Damon killed her." Elena whispered to Leila and Nettie as she pulled her coat off.

"You reap what you sow, buddy." Stefan said, raising his bottle.

Leila started to take her jacket off too, narrowing her eyes at Stefan. Something seemed a little off about him.

"Let's be very clear: whatever time I have left here, I sure as hell don't plan on wasting on you. You got me?" She asked Damon.

"You got it Lex." He downed his glass in one gulp, pouring another.

"So, we all need some of this." She said, moving Damon aside and filling glasses. She began handing them to everyone. "I'm Lexi, I fixed Stefan when he was a very naughty vampire. The fine upstanding member of society you see before you is all thanks to me. Hello." She said to Leila, reaching out to shake her hand.

Leila smiled at Lexi and took her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"And you, I heard about you." She smiled at Nettie, "You're family," She pulled Nettie in for a hug. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"I am slowly starting to dislike this person." Nettie grumbled, pulling away. She looked down at the cup and sighed, she tipped it back in one gulp. She made her yuck face at Leila, then grinned. "First time for everything."

"Bottoms up." Leila took a shot of the bourbon and wrinkled her nose at the taste. Nettie's phone buzzed and Leila looked over at her sister. She gave her the look...

Klaus: On my way home. I owe you a date.

Nettie blushed, shoving the thing back into her pocket. "It's no one." She said, pouring another glass.

Elena grinned as another song came on over the radio and started hopping with Lexi to the music. "Silas is gone, graduation is tomorrow, The Originals are gone. Things couldn't get any better!" Elena exclaimed.

Leila rocked back and forth to the beat of the song and gave Nettie a goofy grin before taking her hands and making her rock with her. "Come on, don't be a party-pooper."

"I'm not... But Leila?" She whispered, "The Originals aren't gone. They are on their way home tonight." She said.

Leila raised a brow, spinning Nettie around, "And how do we know this information?" She asked Nettie.

Nettie's cheeks went red again, "Because Klaus just sent me a text."

Leila winked. "I bet you're excited." She let go of Nettie's hands and started twirling towards the booze table for another glass.

Nettie sighed, plopping down on the sofa after drinking the rest of the gross brown stuff. "So who's Klaus?" Lexi asked, looking at Nettie.

"He's one of the original vampires. He killed my Aunt Jenna, he tried to kill Jeremy and he killed me." She said, eyeing Nettie. "He's a psycho."

"But we like him?" Lexi asked Nettie, ignoring Elena.

"Uhh... I don't want to talk about this anymore." She said, reaching to Leila. Leila smiled, pouring more into Nettie's glass.

Leila took a small sip of her refilled drink before Damon danced his way over to her. Damon took the glass out of Leila's hands. "And what do you think you're doing standing over here? You," he twirled Leila, "Should be dancing with me." Leila blushed and threw her arms around Damon's neck. He picked her up and spun around.

"You're already getting drunk," Leila giggled.

"I'm fun when I'm drunk." Damon winked and gave her his signature smolder.

Elena eyed Damon and Leila, sighing deeply. She looked to Stefan, trying to make eye-contact but he was too busy wrapped up in Lexi's conversations. Elena downed her drink in a gulp. "You want to get some air?" She asked Nettie. Nettie shrugged in agreement, taking the last little bit of Bourbon from it's happy spot in the glass.

* * *

Elena let out a loud sigh, looking up at the sky from where she sat. She took Nettie up onto the roof hoping that they wouldn't hear Leila laughing with Damon. "So... I guess I should thank you for fixing me." Elena said awkwardly.

"Don't thank me." Nettie told her.

"Okay well..." Elena reached into her pocket, pulling out a small vile. "Instead I will give you this. I took it off Silas when we were putting him in Damon's car." She handed Nettie the small glass container.

"This is the cure." Nettie said, holding it in the palm of her hand. "Why are you giving me this? I don't want it." She told her.

"Because your sister clearly does. I just thought maybe it would be a nice thing to give her as a graduation gift." Elena shrugged.

Nettie eyed her, "How do you know she isn't happy the way she is now?" She asked her.

"Well... She's skittish. She doesn't use her abilities like the rest of us. She doesn't know what she's doing. I just thought it had something to do with her being unhappy as a vampire." Elena shrugged at Nettie. Inside all she could do was try her best to contain her glee that the plan might be working.

"Fine. I think." Nettie said, putting it into her coat pocket.

Elena gave her a small smile. "Well, I should go spend some time with Jeremy and Alaric before..." She bit her bottom lip. "You know."

"Sure." Nettie said, lying on her back to look up at the sky. It was spinning but it was still peaceful. Just being able to lay still on her own... It was nice.

* * *

"This is it Nettie. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives." Leila said smiling as she pranced around the boarding house kitchen. They had both spent the night, having gotten a little bit wasted.

"What does that even mean Lei? Nothing about today kick starts our lives." Nettie said, taking a swig from the milk jug.

Leila frowned slightly, pulling a blood-bag from the fridge. She eyed the thing a moment before biting into it hesitantly.

Nettie watched her sister with curious eyes, thinking about what Elena had said on the roof. "Really though. You're a vampire. Graduation just seems... I don't know..."

"Stupid now?" Leila asked, putting down the blood bag before she'd even gotten a third of the way through it.

"I guess." Nettie chugged some more milk. "But to be fair it was stupid before we were vampires." Nettie grinned, "I fell asleep on the roof." Nettie told Leila, giggling as she put the empty milk jub into the bin.

"That drunk, were you?" Leila smirked.

"I think I might have sent some text messages I am going to come to regret... Then I just sorta... Drifted off." It wasn't that bad. At least she didn't fall off the roof.

"I just passed out." Leila laughed, tossing the half-full blood bag in the trash. "Not going to eat before we go help Caroline?" Leila asked Nettie, frowning. She hadn't seen her sister feed that much since she killed those girls.

"Uh... I maybe wanted to wait until we went to help Care with the grad set up... I was going to ask her to give me a lesson or two. I hate those cold blood bags." She said, grabbing her bag from the counter.

"You know, you could always ask Damon too." Leila snatched her backpack from the back of a chair and slung it over her shoulder.

"I could." She said shortly. She had sent Klaus a text from the roof, asking him to show her. But she wasn't ready for Leila to know that. She wasn't sure if it was something she should tell any of her friends.

They all hated him.

* * *

"Thank god you guys are here! There is so much left to do!" Caroline exclaimed as Leila and Nettie approached her. "These volunteers are acting like they've never set up a dinner before. Ugh." She started handing out name tags to them.

Leila took her nametag and put it on, then looked to Caroline. "What can we do to help, then?"

"Oh, hold on! I have a checklist somewhere!" She started searching her messy table for the paper. "Ah ha! Okay. Nettie I need you to head inside and pick up a folder with the graduating classes' names in it. It's red. I left it on Alaric's old desk, you know it."

Nettie put the dumb name tag on and nodded, waving her off as she moved to the steps. "Leila I need you to grab those wine glasses and make sure they are distributed properly. I already had to fire one volunteer from cup duty." She smiled at Leila. She sighed as Leila put her arm around her.

"I got it. Just take a breath." Leila said softly, smiling back.

* * *

Nettie smiled as she carried the red folder out of the classroom. She touched the vile in her pocket, she was going to give it to her sister after the ceremony. She couldn't wait.

"Red is really not your color Nettle." Katherine said, matching Nettie's pace in the high school hallway.

"And here I was hoping you had gotten killed by, oh I don't know? Any ghost." Nettie said sarcastically.

"Funny you should mention me being killed. Because I am here to collect on that immortality you and Bonnie promised me." She said, looking back down the hallway.

"You were never going to get immortality Katherine. Besides, Qetsiyah never showed up."

"See." Katherine said, walking in front of Nettie, "I can't disagree with you Nettle. But here's the thing. I have been feeling out of luck lately, but you know who's been getting all of my luck?" She asked the small blonde. "You and your stupid friends." She spat, she punched Nettie directly in the nose, dropping her onto the hard floor. "Would you believe it? I am having a bad day.

Katherine kicked her boot down onto Nettie's neck and held her on the floor. "I deserve it!" Katherine spat, breaking off a piece of a locker and slamming it down on Nettie. "I never had a graduation."

Nettie tried with all her might to use her light against Katherine. But she felt weak from not having fed. It seemed she was learning that there was a tiny downside to becoming a vampire. She struggled on the her back.

"Okay, I'll admit. That was nasty." Katherine said, letting Nettie up off the floor, blood running down her chin. Just as Nettie reached her feet, Katherine ran at her, throwing her into the lockers. She grabbed Nettie again, smashing her face into the glass of a fire ax box.

Nettie whimpered, falling backwards. As Katherine pinned her against the floor she struggled frantically, reaching for her pocket. "I have nothing, but I'm about to change that." Katherine told her.

"Kicking someone while they're down. Classy Katherine." Nettie said, spitting blood onto the floor next to where she lay.

"Your end." Katherine moved for her one more time, her hand reached into Nettie's chest as she knelt to crush her heart. "Bye bye little girl." Katherine grinned.

Nettie grunted as she pulled the cure from her pocket and shoved it into Katherine's mouth. She grabbed her jaw and forced the vampire to bite down on it. Katherine's eyes widened as the cure broke open inside her mouth. She took a choked breath and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Have a nice human life, Katherine."

* * *

"Where is everyone?!" Caroline exclaimed.

"I'm here!" Matt called as he slowed to a stop in front of the blonde, Leila beside him. "Just finishing that long list of chores you gave us." He smirked.

"Where's Elena and Nettie?" Bonnie asked, also just arriving. "We can't do this without them."

Elena and Stefan walked up to the group. "I'm here," Elena said as she gave Bonnie a hug.

"I can't believe it. We're actually all here. We are all here together! Bonnie Bennet, are you crying?" Caroline giggled.

"It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college." Bonnie explained.

"Before we go to college," Caroline corrected, putting up a finger.

Nettie walked up slowly toward the group. Leila grinned wide at seeing her sister, then frowned, suddenly. "What the hell happened to you?!" Leila hurried over to her.

The group looked to Nettle and hurried to be by her side as well. "Katherine." She said, "Why? I thought I got all the blood." Nettie looked down at her outfit. She sighed as Leila reached out and wiped some blood out of Nettie's hair.

"Why did Katherine come after you?" Leila asked.

"It was about the promise we made to her, wasn't it?" Bonnie looked to Nettie.

"She wasn't going to get what she wanted so she threw a fit." Nettie shrugged. "Nearly killed me. Evidently I need to eat soon." She looked around the school yard for someone. Leila grew nervous.

Matt sighed and rolled up his sleeve. "Here, can't have Caroline's graduation messed up by a hungry vampire." He gave Caroline a smirk as he held his wrist out towards Nettie.

"Uhh I'm not feeding on you out here." She said, shaking her head no.

"We'll step inside a moment," Stefan suggested. "We still have a few minutes before the ceremony. I'll take them." He told Leila, touching Nettie's arm to lead her in. Leila nodded still worried, but she knew Stefan wouldn't let Nettie get out of control. She had to tell herself to calm down.

* * *

"Welcome parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for a graduation. Thank you for joining us today on this special day as we celebrate our graduates. So let's get started." Rudy Bennet smiled down from his place on the podium. "John Albrecht." Students came up to the stage and took their graduation certificates as they were called one-by-one. "Uhm, not to play favorites," Rudy said suddenly, "But I am especially proud of this next graduate, my lovely daughter, Bonnie Bennett!"

Bonnie walked up on the stage and gave her father a hug.

"Congratulations. I'm so proud of you, sweetie." Rudy kissed his daughter's head.

"Thanks, Dad," Bonnie said softly.

"You're welcome."

"For everything." Bonnie smiled, taking her certificate and leaving the stage.

"Savannah Davis, Matt Donovan..." Matt grabbed his certificate. "Leila Maxwell." Leila grinned as she stepped up onto the stage and took her certificate too. She looked over her shoulder as she was leaving the stage. "Nettle Maxwell!" Nettle walked up to Rudy and took her graduation certificate, giving him a bored smile before following her sister. "Caroline Forbes, Stefan Salvatore. Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Caroline said as she followed her friends off stage with Stefan.

"Elena Gilbert!"

"Thanks." Elena gave Rudy a smile and joined her friends as well.

The group of friends took their designated seats among the students. Nettie plopped down beside Bonnie and sighed.

"Greetings." A voice came from behind the girls.

Bonnie didn't look back. "I was hoping we wouldn't see you, Kol."

"Ah, come now. Don't be so smug." He turned his head, looking to a row behind him, at one woman specifically. "Isn't that the witch your friend Caroline killed?"

Bonnie turned her head to find Aja sitting a few rows back.

"And over there, that's my hybrid friend, Adrian. Also dead. In fact, the seats are scattered with two dozen supernatural faces, all of whom have reason to lash out since their lives were sacrificed in order to make your Expression triangle. All they're waiting on is word from me." Kol smirked at them. Nettie frowned, thinking he looked so much like Klaus in that moment.

"The veil goes back up tonight. Don't you have anything better to do that harass me and my friends?" Bonnie whispered.

Kol laughed. "Well, that's the thing. I don't want the veil to go back up. In fact, I want you to drop it completely, so I and my fallen friends can live, Bonnie. It's time to pay the Piper."

* * *

Bonnie led Kol into the boiler room, stopping once inside. "The Kol I remember was adamantly against hell on earth."

"I was, till I was in hell." Kol explained. "Now I would very much like to be back on Earth." He blinked, noticing Bonnie's body on the ground, even though she was standing right there beside him. "What's this?"

"It's me. I died last night. I'm a ghost, and I want the same thing you want. I don't want to be on the Other Side with unfinished business. I want my parents to see me off to college, I want to decorate my dorm room with my best friends. I want to stay here, Kol. More than anything." Bonnie gave him a sad smile.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it together!" Kol exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. He started walking towards Bonnie but was stopped by an invisible force. "What have you done." He tried to leave through the door they came through to get into the boiler room, but again he couldn't get through.

"This will hold you till dark. Then, when the veil is back up, this town will be rid of you for good." Bonnie said on a sigh.

"But everything you just said-" Kol stammered.

"It was true. Bet we don't always get what we want... Do we?"


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: **

"So you want to head over to Caroline's?" Leila asked Nettie, watching as she pulled the awful red thing from herself, throwing it into Leila's beater car. "You should probably change your clothes." Nettie looked down at her blood stained outfit, hair pin in her mouth.

"SHFit." She garbled, spitting the hair pin into the gravel. "Shit."

"It's alright if you want to skip it. I might..." Leila was wondering if being out on the last night of the veil being down was the smartest thing for them both. "We could just go home."

"Uhm..." Nettie refused to look Leila in the eye.

"What?" Leila asked, looking concerned. "Something wrong, Nettie?" She pulled her graduation cap off of her head and tossed it into the car with Nettie's.

"I was supposed to meet Klaus." She looked around again, unable to see him anywhere. "I guess he changed his plans."

"Oh meet him here? Call him." Leila paused. "If you're going out with Klaus, I think I'll go to the Boarding house. I don't want to be home alone."

"You mean I should call him? I'm not calling him." She shook her head. "I think I might just head home. He's the one that wanted this anyways. No harm done." She said, slamming the passenger door shut.

"You mind if I just drop you off then?" Leila asked as she got in the driver's seat. "I actually need to get something I left at Stefan's and Damon's. I just remembered."

"You can leave me at home. Go sleep with my grandfather Leila." Nettie grinned at her as she got in the car. "Geezer sex, gross."

Leila wrinkled her nose as she turned the key in the ignition. "God, Nettie. No. Don't say it like that!" She pulled out of the parking lot. Suddenly a smirk fell across her lips. She gave Nettie a look.

"What's that about?" Nettie asked.

"You know... Klaus is WAY older than Damon. That means you're going out with a geezer too!"

"I'm going nowhere with anyone. I've decided I'm going to remain celibate until I die. Maybe I'll become a nun or something." She said, sticking a piece of cherry gum in her mouth.

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, Nettie..." Leila said sarcastically.

"When you said I was unable to do certain things you were right. I can't sit around waiting for him. I won't. Not to mention he's a righteous ass hole. How can I see him when everyone hates him so much? No I think I give up." Nettie sighed, "Besides, he stood me up. I don't think I like being stood up."

"Don't do that, Nettie." Leila sighed. "You haven't even given it a real chance yet. Sure, no one likes Klaus. But it doesn't mean we can't grow to like him. I know you used to hate Damon."

"I never hated Damon. In fact, I enjoy arguing with him. It's good for our bonding process." Nettie told her. "But he did defile my grandmother. So you know... Think about that while he is defiling you; my sister."

"We're not blood related!" Leila glanced at Nettie. "Don't make it sound like Damon and I are a taboo or something." She laughed, shaking her head. "I love you, Nettie. So much. You are amazing."

"Would that make you like... Great great great grandmother in law, sister... Something?"

"Whoa, hey now. What makes you think Damon will ever marry me? Because that would be the only way that I could possibly end up your great, great, great grandmother in law." Leila shook her head. "I'm not human. I don't expect to ever get marriage or kids out of life anymore."

"I'm sorry I used the cure the cure on Katherine today. I was going to give it to you as a graduation gift." Nettie picked at the car door, peeling the fabric away.

Leila stopped the car at a stop sign and looked to Nettie, surprise written across her face. "Wait, what?"

"I lost the cure." Nettie shrugged. "Oops." Guess they wouldn't be using it to kill any super vampires anytime soon.

"So Katherine is human..." Leila paused and looked at Nettie thoughtfully. "You were going to give it to me?"

Nettie laughed, "Yep I cured her. It wasn't my plan, but she caught me when I was weak. I would have died... But now she's human so I think she'll finally learn to stop being such an ass hole. You know? In case someone stronger than her decided they don't like it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Leila shrugged before realizing she was still sitting at the stop sign. She continued on their way to the cabin. "You gonna answer your phone?" Leila asked her, raising a brow.

"Nope." Nettie said quickly. She was going to go home and sit on the couch. Maybe she would even catch up on Buffy.

* * *

Leila waved to Nettie and honked the car horn as she pulled out of the driveway. Nettie watched as she left, then let herself inside. She turned the lights on and plopped down on the couch, reaching for the television remote. Her cell phone started ringing again.

Nettie pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the ID. It was Klaus.

Klaus: I'm running late. I will be at the school shortly.

Nettie frowned. She opened the messaging screen to reply.

Nettie: I'm not at the school. Katherine tried to murder me, I needed to shower and wear clothes not covered in her blood.

After a moment, Klaus's message came through.

Klaus: I'll meet you at your place then. What is the address?

Nettie sighed, texting him her address.

She tossed her phone onto the cushion beside her and turned on her favorite TV show. She need to relax a few minutes before she did anything else.

About an hour later, Nettie was changed into fresh clothes, all the blood was out of her hair, and she definitely felt a lot better. She grabbed a gallon of milk out of the fridge and frowned. There wasn't but a few swallows left inside.

She looked over her shoulder as the doorbell buzzed. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. After a moment, it buzzed again. She grumbled and went to the front door with the milk jug in hand.

"Nettie." Klaus smirked when she opened the door.

"Klaus." Nettie raised the jug to her lips and drank what was left.

"This place looks familiar." He murmured to himself, then watched as Nettie downed the drink. "Care to join me for that outing I promised you?"

"I don't really feel like going out right now. You know, after what happened all I. I almost had my heart ripped out three hours ago." Nettie sighed. "Call me tired."

"Then we can stay in." Klaus looked over her shoulder at the gorgeous interior of the cabin. "Watch movies, eat popcorn, whatever you want to do to relax."

"Why can I not picture you enjoying television and popcorn?" Nettie raised an eyebrow and stepped to the side to let him come in. "I'm watching Buffy. Watch it, or go away."

"Buffy is fine." Klaus stepped inside. Nettie closed the door behind her and crossed the room, dropping onto the couch lazily.

"I have a feeling you're upset with me." Klaus said, walking over to where Nettie sat.

"I already told you I'm watching television." Nettie said, giving Klaus a sidelong glance.

Klaus nodded and took a seat beside her.

Nettie glanced at Klaus again. She couldn't help but feel this was really awkward. Klaus was sitting on her couch. Klaus was watching TV with her. What the hell? She needed to take a step away. Catch her bearings. "I need to grab a sweater." Nettie stood up quickly.

"Do you still get cold?" Klaus asked her.

"No, you're just making me nervous." Before he could say anything she was bounding up the steps.

Nettie took a breath as she reached the hall closet. She opened the door and... Nothing was there.

The staircase was back.

"What in the world...?" Nettie looked up at the staircase that looked like it'd come straight out of a kid's story book. Forgetting about Klaus, she began to make her way up the stairs. There had to be a reason it had been gone for so long, just to return out of the blue. When she got to the top of the stairs, she looked around.

It was the same attic, but she couldn't help but feel like there was a lot more stuff in there than last time. She noticed the desk. That was familiar. But there was a table covered in books and papers, and a wall lined with bookcases. She also noticed drawings on the wall.

Nettie approached the wall, putting a hand on it as she examined the pictures. It looked like drawings of the phases of the moon. The sketch of the full moon was the only one colored, and it was in pinks and blues and greens.

Nettie looked out the window, up in the sky. She blinked, noticing the full moon in the sky. She tried to recall if there had been a full moon the day she and Leila had come up there.

"Nettie?!" Klaus's voice came from the floor below.

Nettie stepped away from the window, snapping out of her reverie at the sound of his voice. His footsteps echoed as he came up the steps.

"Well, this is interesting," Klaus said. "To say the least. Did you decorate the stairwell?"

"With rot and moss? No." She shook her head. "I found it that way."

"Another Nettie related mystery." Klaus looked around the attic. "How did you get this house? Did you buy it and find all of this up here?"

"When my parents died they left it to me. It was their place." She muttered, still lost in thought.

"So these are your parents' things, I presume?" Klaus walked over to the table and looked at an old paperweight

"I don't know... I mean I assume it is." She told him, finally looking at him.

"You know, something strange is always going on when I find you." He smirked at her. "First you're a bloody mess of a vampire, now you're in an attic that looks like it's been ripped from the pages of a book."

"Silas said he knew something about me." She told him, looking up from the other side of the table. "Now that he's gone... I wonder if any of this will ever make any sense." She picked up a hand drawn picture of a doorway. It was elaborately drawn with large green vines wrapped around it.

"What did he say? Anything of any help to finding out who you really are?" Klaus's eyes were on her. He was giving Nettie his full attention.

"He called me a fairy. But fairies aren't real, that would be ridiculous."

"In a world full of vampires and werewolves, doppelgangers and witches, would you really call being a fairy impossible, Love?" He picked up another sheet of paper, looking it over. "I've never seen this before." He told her pointing to the writing on the soiled paper. "And I've seen a lot in a thousand years."

"Vampires have a hard time resisting faeries because of their smell and taste; fairy blood is intoxicating to vampires." Nettie read softly as she looked at the page Klaus had shown her.

"You can read that?" Klaus looked genuinely surprised.

"Uhm... yeah." She pushed the paper away. "This is just weird."

"Whatever language it is, it's certainly an old one." He said, deep in thought. It bothered him that he couldn't read it. It made him feel young when he had lived a thousand years. It wasn't a feeling he was enjoying.

* * *

Leila opened the door at the Boarding house, stepping inside quietly. For some reason she expected the home to be loud, like it had been the other day, since Lexi was still around.

"Hello?" she called out. When no one answered, Leila sighed and made her way down the hall. "Anyone?"

"Leila?" Damon's voice came from the living room.

Leila walked into the doorway and smiled at him. "Hey..." She stepped into the room.

"How'd graduation go?" He asked, giving her a smile.

"It went..." She rubbed her arm. "I... really needed to talk to someone after Nettie said something to me on the way home," she said suddenly. "Because it brought up a lot of questions, and..." She shrugged and looked at Damon wearily.

"I can't read minds Red." He said, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Nettie said she was going to give me the cure as a graduation gift." Leila tapped her foot on the floor nervously. "But Katherine attacked her and Nettie used it. Katherine's human now."

He pondered what she said, "Go Nettie." He smirked at her, fist pumping the air in triumph. "So what's the problem Red? Upset about that?" He asked her.

Leila shook her head. "Well, no, not about Katherine. I was thinking about what I would have done if I had the choice to take the cure... You know, if I would or not."

"Yeah well, too late for that. Besides, who would want to be human anyways? You only get a handful of years before you start to wither away and die. Not my thing." He told her, taking a drink from his glass.

"Maybe I would, Damon..." Leila looked to her feet. "I... always wanted to get married, have kids. That's... All taken from me now."

Damon furrowed his brow. "You would?"

"I'm not a good vampire. I don't want to drink blood, even though I know I have to. I have to keep my life a secret from my mom, I'll never have a family."

"What are you talking about? You're a great vampire." He said, wrapping his arms around her waist and looking at her. "You just need time."

"Would you still feel the same about me if all this hadn't happened, and I still had the opportunity to take the cure?"

"I don't even want to think about watching you grow old and die. I can't imagine living forever with just memories of you."

Leila sighed and put her forehead to his chest. "I wish Nettie had never told me her plans for the cure..."

* * *

"Why are you making faces?" Nettie ask Klaus as he dug through what he could decipher.

"How long have you known about all this?" He asked her, a grumpy look on his face as he changed to his usual serious Klaus...

"Um... Not long? Maybe a month. Leila and I came up here and took some boxes... We haven't had a chance to even touch this stuff. The door disappeared not long after we found it. It was just a closet..." She looked at the doorway leading down to the house. "Until tonight I wasn't able to get up here."

He glared at her a minute, dropping all the papers. "It is incredibly random that your family ended up here..." He told her. He pointed down to a sheet of yellow, torn up paper. "This says that fairies are older than Vikings... The first known sighting was 50bc." He waited for her to realize what he was saying. But she hadn't. "It says that they all fled when the vampires began feeding on them, killing off a large portion of their population. There shouldn't be any fairies left on this plane."

"What does that even mean?" She asked him, shaking her head.

"It means that whoever has been going around spreading fairy genes in Mystic Falls shouldn't be here." Klaus picked up a book and slammed it down on her side of the table.

"Alright, alright... I didn't do anything." Nettie gave Klaus a flat look. "I don't get why you're getting angry."

"I'm angry because Damon Salvatore clearly hid this." He pointed angrily at the book. She looked down, picking it up. When she opened it she saw hand writing that matched a previous diary she had read with her sister.

"This is Elizabeth's journal." She muttered. "Why are we angry about this?"

"Because it says right there that he saw her and the things she could do. Then he turned her." Nettie's eyes widened. She hadn't read that far ahead.

"But..." She glared down at the pages, "But that means she might be alive." She ran her hands over it's pages. "Your not just angry about this are you?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows. "Damon didn't even know you then..."

He continued to glare at her, "You have that look about you." She pressed. "That, I'm all powerful Klaus look."

"You shouldn't exist, Nettle. You're a hybrid; a vampire and a fairy. You're stronger than you could ever imagine." And it scared him.

"And..." She watched his expression shift, "You're still planning to kill me aren't you?" She asked him, realizing that look. The same look he gave her the night he took from the dance. Like he had no choice.

"You need to be put down before things get out of hand, before you become too powerful for anyone to stop you."

Nettie shook her head. "You're afraid of me, aren't you? You know I will stop you, don't you?" She asked him carefully. "I've already done this with Katherine today Klaus, I really don't want to have to hurt you too." She had planned on telling him the good news. That the cure was gone and not a threat to him anymore. But he was being a brat.

Klaus gave her a long, angry look. He knew what she was capable of. She'd killed Finn in seconds. "You wouldn't hurt me. You're too distracted and weak right now to even do it if you tried." He smashed a small stool, pulling it's leg off and racing towards. He grabbed her by the neck, slamming her against the wall. "No hard feelings love."

Nettie grabbed his wrist with one hand and held her other against his chest. She could feel her light heating up in her hand as the make-shift stake was pressed against her chest.

The two hybrids stared each other down, contemplating making a move, waiting to see what the other planned to do. "What's wrong? Stab me already. I dare you." Nettie instigated, narrowing her eyes at him just slightly.

Klaus didn't answer. She could feel his heavy breathing on her face. Why was he hesitating if he was so adamant on getting rid of her for good?

It only took a second for her to hit the table behind Klaus, knocking down books and papers as she went. She couldn't help look up at him surprised, but again his expression had shifted to something she had seen not too long ago.

They both starred, and Nettie could feel her anger shifting to something vaguely familiar. Her thoughts became jumbled, and she hesitated, reaching up and touching his face with her hands. She had never just looked at him.

The sound of the table creaking echoed in the attic as Klaus's arms came around Nettie's waist. There was only a moment of stillness before Klaus's lips came down roughly on hers.

Nettie instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck as Klaus's hands slipped between her legs, pushing her thighs apart. He stood between her legs, breathing heavily as his lips wandered from Nettie's to her neck.

Nettie wrapped her legs around Klaus's hips, putting a hand back on the table to support herself as Klaus pressed hard against her. She tilted her head back, surprised as a soft moan escaped her lips. "Klaus..." She breathed.

His lips came up to hers again as his hands wandered up her thighs, pushing her dress up. She pulled his black sweater up over his head, kissing him again in the process.

Klaus yanked the strap of her dress down her shoulder, his hands reaching behind her back to unhook her bra immediately after. He smirked against her lips as the bra came loose, falling onto the table behind her.

Nettie ran her hands down Klaus's chest, her fingers stopping at the waistband of his jeans. She hesitated. What was she doing? She didn't kiss people, let alone touch people at all. She took a breath, pushing all her fears and abnormalities aside, pulling them open.

Klaus seemed to take it as a hint. He pulled away to look her over for just a moment, smiling softly at what he saw.

Nettie reached for Klaus, afraid that if she stopped kissing him she'd become afraid of what was coming next and want to stop. She knot her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer.

Klaus hiked her dress up to her waist, his hands gliding over her thighs, to her panties. He hooked a finger in the waistband and slowly slid them down over her ankles. When they dropped to the floor, he opened his eyes to look at her, almost like he was regretting what he was about to do. But he couldn't stop it now. Nettie deepened the kiss and without hesitation, Klaus pushed himself inside her.

Nettie groaned against his lips at the new sensation. Klaus moved against her slowly at first, then picked up his pace. Nettle clung to Klaus tightly, moving her kisses from his lips to his neck and shoulders. Her nails dug into the skin of his back.

He looked back up at her, his eyes yellow, black veins making their way down under his eyes. He looked feral and she couldn't help staring into them. He almost growled, teeth sinking into her neck. Nettie bit out Klaus's name loudly, blinking rapidly, her heart pounding in her chest as he drank from her. She felt the weight of blood pooling under her own eyes and she began to panic a little.

Before she could stop it she found herself sinking her own teeth into his neck, hunger taking over. Klaus's forehead touched Nettie's, kissing her shoulder softly where he'd bit her as they came down from their climax. Nettie held onto him, her heartbeat returning to it's normal pace.

She shoved his chest, pushing him away from her as she slid from the table. Grabbing her panties from the floor she pointed to the doorway. "Leave." She told him, not making eye contact with him. She wiped his blood from her chin, picking up the books and paper they had spilled.

"Nettle."

"Leave!" She stammered loudly. "I don't want you here."

He whooshed away, leaving her alone in the dark attic, lit only by small lanterns here and there. She sighed, dropping to the stool. "Where is Leila when I need her..." She said to herself. Running her hand over the front of the book she made a choice.

Grabbing up all the papers she could she shoved them into the book and took it out of the attic and to her room. She was going to figure out what she was capable of, who her family was and how she could protect herself from Niklaus Mikaelson.

* * *

Leila looked down at the blood bag in her hand, having left Damon in the living room so she could get a moment to herself to think. He was right. The cure was gone, so it didn't make a difference now. And she hadn't even thought about taking the cure until Nettie had said something about it anyway.

She bit into the blood bag and drank from it a moment before tossing it on the counter. "I hate this..." She muttered.

"I can take you out." He said from the doorway. "No more blood bags. Simple solution Red." He told her.

She looked at him. "I'm afraid I won't be able to stop. What if I get like Stefan? Damon, I know I've been doing my best to be strong and brave, but I'm scared."

"If you were like Stefan, Red, we would know it." He was starting to wonder if she was one of those self hating vampires. He hoped she wasn't like his brother. Damon loved who he was and what he could do. He wanted her to be that way to. "You just have to suck it up and get it done." He told her, smirking.

She returned his smirk with a small smile of her own. "Literally."

"No pun intended," He smiled, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I promise once you figure it out you will feel way better."

She rested her head against his chest. "Alright. I'll trust you." She looked up and kissed his chin softly, realizing how much taller he was then her. "We can go after." She told him, humor in her tone.

"After what?" He raised a brow at her.

She pulled away from him and put her hands on his chest. "After I show you how much I love you, Damon." His eyes widened at her. She gave him a caring smile, "You've made me feel so alive... I love you dummy."

He turned to Leila, kissing her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She threw her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss, holding onto him like her life depended on it. Pushing him back against the fridge, Leila pulled away from the kiss, looking him in the eyes. The fridge stopped shaking and she smiled.

"Off." She said, pulling at the collar of his shirt. He quickly removed it, dropping it to the tile below their feet. Then he kissed her again, moving from her lips to her jaw. Once he reached her chest he ripped her shirt open, taking her nipple in his mouth. She moaned as he lifted her up off the tile, her legs wrapping around his waist.

Again he ripped through another pair of leggings before entering her warmth, and touching his forehead to hers. She couldn't help notice how blue his eyes were and that they hadn't had this since the night he had tried to kill her. She only hoped that this time things would go smoothly.

Leila ran her hand back through his hair. Damon closed his eyes, a relaxed smile spreading across his lips as she kissed his forehead. He put a hand to her chin, tilting her head down to look at him again. He kissed her passionately, sitting her down on the counter.

Leila was almost frozen, watching what he was doing and trying not to pass out as he moved back up to her lips. Running a hand over her breasts, he trailed soft, butterfly kisses to the base of her neck. Her phone buzzed on the counter but she ignored it, basking in Damon's heat.

Damon gripped her waist hard as he moved faster, picking up the pace on Leila. "Why does the phone always ring?" He asked her, trying to shrug it off. He shifted them to the counter top, grabbing her phone and throwing it out the kitchen door. It hit the floor of the living room with a thump and he smirked.

She held back a laugh, dropping her head on Damon's shoulder as she held him tight. "Shit." She stammered, crying out. As Damon bit into her shoulder she shuddered. She really did love this big oaf.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: **

Leila knelt down to pick up her cell phone later that night. She frowned when the thing didn't respond normally to her attempt at turning it on. "Damon! I think you broke my phone." She looked over her shoulder at him. The screen was cracked and there was a whole section that remained black. But Nettie's messages were still flashing where she could see them.

"What was so urgent we had to be interrupted?" Damon asked her, ignoring the broken phone.

"I would tell you if I could actually see what the messages say." She raised her eyebrows at him, before looking back the phone. She tapped the screen, opening the message box.

**Nettie: Buffy died. I'm alone mourning. Come home. **

Leila frowned at Nettie's message. "Damn, she spoiled it!" Leila groaned, turning her phone off and stuffing it in her hoodie pocket. "It was Nettie," she told Damon.

"Ah yes, the bane of our existence." He smirked at her, pouring a drink. "You going to run home to her?" He asked Leila.

She sighed, looking at him. She really didn't want to leave him, especially after what had just happened, but Nettie barely ever asked her to come home. "She doesn't ask me to come back early very often," Leila tried to explain, frowning slightly.

"It's alright Red, I'm supposed to be helping Stefan with Silas tonight. Nettie dropped off his body this morning before the ceremony." Her Impala sat right outside the house and he knew his brother and Lexi would be home anytime.

She nodded her head, walking over to him to plant a soft kiss on his lip. "Call me later? Tell me how it goes?"

"Will do." He smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "Don't get into any new dangerous situations before then."

"It's Nettie, Damon. I'll try but no promises." Leila walked out into the hallway then called out, "And don't forget you promised to take me out to feed." Grabbing her stuff, she made her way to the beater car and headed for home.

* * *

Nettie took a shower, pulling her pajamas on and pulling her hair up into a messy bun. She grabbed the journal from the bathroom counter and took it to the living room.

She pulled the loose pages out and opened the book to the first page:

_October 12, 1870 _

_It was the hardest decision I have ever made. But I must tell myself that I did it for our child. If there is anyone in this relationship that deserves life, it's this little one inside me that grows by the day. _

_But when Damon wakes up tomorrow morning and looks in the mirror he will remember only that he made a mistake. He had a dalliance with a strange woman, nothing more. The Damon I have spent all my time fixing will return to his old heart broken self. Katherine Pierce will once again stain his soul. With every day that goes by I will mourn for him. _

_As the Bennett witch draws nearer I fear that leaving is my only choice. In time I may be able to return, restoring Damon's memories. But until that time I shall not dwell on what could be. I will run and hide and until my last breath I will protect the only thing that remains of Damon Salvatore and myself. _

_-Elizabeth McCleary. _

"Buffy died?!" Leila exclaimed as the door came open. Nettie looked to her sister with a start. She'd been so immersed in reading the journal, she hadn't heard Leila's noisy rust-bucket pulling up into the driveway.

"You're here." Nettie said abruptly, the book still open in her lap.

"I'm here." Leila said, giving Nettie a smile. She looked to the old book in her lap. "Reading up on those old family grimoires?" She shrugged out of her hoodie, tossing it onto the back of the recliner as she approached her sister. Her cell phone fell out on to the floor by Nettie's foot. "Shit," Leila sighed.

"It seems the staircase came back." Nettie told her, closing the book.

"It did?" Leila raised her brow, bending over to pick up her phone. She plopped down on the sofa beside Nettie, tapping the broken screen. She looked over at the journal, "Anything good?"

"Damon's been compelled." She said, yawning. "Here." She shoved the book at her sister. "He's your boyfriend. Maybe you should be the one reading this stuff."

Leila blinked, looking at the book a minute before opening it to the first page and taking a moment to read the passage, "Hell..." She said on a breath. She started tapping at her cell phone again.

"What are you doing?" Nettie asked.

"Damon needs to know." Leila looked to Nettie with a deep frown on her face before continuing her aggravated pounding on the phone. She quickly tossed it aside. "I can't see the keyboard." She held her hand out to Nettie. "Give me your phone."

"Are you alright, you look upset?" Nettie told her, handing over her phone.

"I'm just really hungry," Leila said. "And I'm just a little upset that I need to buy a new cell." She took Nettie's phone and opened up her contacts. "You don't mind if I tell Damon about this, right?" She looked to Nettie before calling him.

"How do you think Damon Salvatore would react when he finds all that out? That's not little Leila... Not to mention it says in there that he turned her. She could be alive... Do we really want to fuel that conflict?" Nettie asked, surprised that she cared. But she did for whatever reason.

Leila frowned even deeper. "Elizabeth could still be alive? Do..." She started tapping her foot nervously. "Do you think she might still love him?"

"Emotions run on high with vampires." Nettie shrugged. "Look at Katherine. She still loves Stefan after 150 years. And Damon was pretty sure he loved Katherine for all that time. I don't know the answer but I knew their track records."

"You're supposed to say, of course not Leila. Don't worry about it, Leila." She gave Nettie a flat look.

"Oh, right." Nettie furrowed her brow, "Of course he doesn't still love her..." But Nettie couldn't help but feel it almost made it better if he did. She still hated Damon for defiling Elizabeth and leaving her with a child. Even if he didn't know about that child... But she wasn't going to tell Leila that.

"Now you see? I don't know if I should tell him to come over so we can all talk about it or not. I know I should, but..." She groaned.

"Leila I am going to be brutally honest and you may hate me for it. But I have to say it." She waited for confirmation.

Leila just watched Nettie, waiting for her to continue. "Go ahead."

"This is family drama before it's... Boyfriend drama." She wasn't trying to be selfish, but where she came from had mattered since before she started school. She didn't want Leila and Damon to be arguing while she tried to find herself. While she tried to find her real family. "I need to do this alone, without yours and Damon's relationship being involved. This is my chance to figure things out."

"So you don't want me to call him so you guys can talk about this?" Leila's tone was a little pissy, but she didn't seem like she was going to start an argument.

"I don't want you to call him and make this about you. Yes." Nettie had a habit of saying things before her brain had time to process them. She hadn't meant to be mean. But when Leila's face shifted to anger she knew she'd said the wrong thing.

"Ouch." Leila said, tossing the phone on the couch between them. She stood up, snatching her phone and grabbing her hoodie off the recliner. "I wasn't going to make this about me," she said as she shrugged into the jacket. "But I love Damon, Nettie. If some vampire bitch from his past is going to try to take him away from me, I'm not going to stand by and watch."

"Even if she is alive Leila, which we don't even know. She's my family." Nettie was really unhappy with Leila calling Elizabeth a bitch, "I would have thought that after sixteen years of living with me you would know how much this mattered to me. But I can see who really matters here once again." She snatched the book from Leila's hands.

Leila's face grew red. She growled. "Right, because I don't care about you at all." Leila's tone was icy. "You should know me better than that after sixteen years, Nettie. So much for that."

"I do know you Leila. I know that you want to march over there and make this about you. But it isn't about you. So go ahead, go over there and ruin this for me." Nettie was yelling now, something she didn't do often. Her cheeks were red and hot and the fact that should could still smell Niklaus on her skin after two showers was bothering her.

"If Damon and Elizabeth loved each other and she fixed him after Katherine and it's all true, then what? What would going over there and talking to him about it even accomplish? He's been compelled Leila. He has no idea that they ever felt anything for each other!" She stomped her foot and all the little things on the shelves around them flew up into the air, smashing on the cabins floors.

"What if Elizabeth just shows up and removes the compulsion?! I want him to know the truth before something like that happens!" Leila kicked the recliner.

"Again! What difference would that make? He's going to feel the same way no matter what happens. Truth or not, he's left with the same problem." Nettie's voice was raised and she squeezed her hands into fists at her sides.

"You know what? I'm done talking about this. You don't understand. You never will. Leave me alone." Leila grabbed fistfuls of her hair.

"If you try to go over there and tell him I will... I will..." Nettie stopped a moment looking at her sister.

Leila didn't answer, just dropped her hand and ran out the door.

Nettie exhaled, kicking the coffee table across the room. It smashed into the fireplace, breaking into tiny pieces. She was going to compel Leila to keep her mouth shut. Her own sister...

* * *

Leila stopped her beater car in front of the Grill. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and attempted to message Damon again. "I hate this thing!" Leila exclaimed, throwing the cell against the dashboard. It shattered. "God, I hate it!" Tears rolled down Leila's cheeks. She climbed out of the old car and slammed the door shut behind her before slipping into the alley to get to the back of the Grill.

Leila stopped at the end of the alleyway when she saw an employee sitting on a bench, sandwich in hand. She could feel the blood in her cheeks, the veins under eyes burning. She was so hungry...

Leila vamp-rushed over to the man, stopping in front of him. She could feel her fangs slide out from her gums as the man's eyes widened at the sight of her. The fear in his expression just made her want to feed more.

"Don't run, don't scream," Leila said, watching his pupils dilate. She was actually a little surprised. It was the first time she'd ever compelled anyone.

She knelt down in front of him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him close. She yanked his collar aside and sunk her teeth into his neck.

Warm, thick, red blood. It tasted so much better than that cold crap she'd been drinking ever since she'd turned. She didn't want to stop. She needed more, she needed to feel full and satiated.

Leila's eyes widened when she noticed she could no longer hear the man's heartbeat.

Leila dropped the body, stepping back a few steps to look down at what she'd done. "Oh, God..." She stammered. She put her fingers to her lips and they came back red. "I-I killed him."

* * *

Leila stumbled into the boarding house, closing the door softly, trying her best not to draw the attention of the whole house. She made her way into the living room where Damon and Stefan were talking. It looked serious but she didn't seem to care.

"Leila?" Stefan said, furrowing his brow as he took in the scent of blood.

"Red what happened?" Damon asked her, worry hitting him like a brick. "Where did the blood come from? Where's Nettie?"

Leila's bottom lip quivered, "Damon, help me..." She said looking down at her blood drenched hands. It was almost as though she remained in a state of shock.

"What happened?" He asked again.

"I'll leave you two alone. I can handle Silas." Stefan said, nodding to them as he slipped out the boarding house door.

"I killed someone... Nettie and I were fighting and I just got so..." She tapered off.

"Angry." He nodded, "It's alright Leila. This is going to happen once and a while. You killed someone and it will stay with you. But you can't change it now. You just need practice." He looked around behind her at the door. "Why were you two fighting?"

"Please, just... I don't want to talk about Nettie." She shook her head pitifully, stepping towards him.

"Why don't you go get a shower, then we'll talk." He ran his hand through her hair. "Okay?"

She nodded her head slowly, leaning into his palm for a moment before turning to go upstairs and shower.

* * *

The shower squealed as Leila turned it off, her hand still shaky as she reached for her towel. After putting her clothes on she made her way out into Damon's room. Damon sat glaring at the door, unmoving.

"Damon?" Leila said, looking at him a moment before she moved towards his still body. It was like he was in a trance. "Damon what is going on?" He didn't move, still staring off past her, towards the door.

Leila looked in the direction Damon was glaring. She blinked at noticing Nettie in the doorway. She grew angry in seconds. "What did you do to Damon?"

"Damon's fine." Nettie told her.

"That's not what I asked you." Leila's voice was stern. She felt a rush of energy hit her. Despite being shaken, she didn't feel as powerless against Nettie as she had at home.

"He'll come out of it when I go." Nettie had only froze him momentarily.

"Then go." Leila narrowed her eyes at Nettle.

Nettie's hand shot out, grabbing Leila with her light. It didn't wrap around her, instead it held her still, stuck where she stood and unable to move.

"Let me go!" Leila exclaimed, trying her best to move to no avail. Nettie was actually beginning to scare her a bit.

"I've had a really bad night. But who cares about Nettie, huh?" Nettie asked her, "First Katherine tries to kill me, then Klaus tries to kill me, now I have to deal with this." She sighed, "It's really unfortunate Leila."

"What are you planning to do, Nettie?"

"I've waited too long for this. I'm not going to let this turn into your drama." She told her sister, moving closer.

"Nettie, stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Leila struggled to get out of the light's grasp.

"I know exactly what I am doing Lei. I'm making sure you don't say something that you might regret." Nettie touched Leila's cheek and looked into her eyes.

"Nettie." Leila whispered.

"You will forget that you read out of Elizabeth's journal tonight. As far as you know we fought about Niklaus. You remembered how much you hate him. Then you left. You won't be saying anything about Elizabeth to Damon." Leila's pupils dilated in return. "When I leave the room you will forget I was here."

Nettie let go of her cheek and left her sister alone with Damon.

Leila blinked, looking to Damon, feeling shaken still from her accidental murder. She gave him a weak smile. "So you want to tell me what happened with Nettie?" He asked her, opening his arms in her direction.

Leila walked over to Damon, throwing her arms around his neck and sitting in his lap as he held her close. "We fought about Klaus." She buried her face in his neck. "I hate him so much Damon."

* * *

Nettie got out around 3am, she was exhausted. She stopped to eat before she got home, sitting alone at The Grill. She hated what she had done to Leila but she hated the idea of Leila telling Damon more. She hated that her sister was in love with him. She absoltuley hated that if Elizabeth was still out there and she did come home... That Leila would make trouble.

But at the same time she also felt bad. She felt bad because she loved Leila and only wanted good things for her. She felt bad because if Damon did get his memories back Nettie was sure he would struggle and in turn hurt Leila. There was no winning.

"I really should lock up, Nettie." Matt said, placing a clean glass back under the bar. "I've let you stay two hours past closing."

"It's alright Matt, thanks." She smiled softly. "I should head home anyways."

Matt locked up behind them and Nettie headed home.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: **

Leila straddled Damon's lap where they sat on the couch in the living room of the Boarding house. She kissed him passionately, unbuttoning his shirt as she ran her fingers through his hair.

The front door opened, Klaus stepping inside and stopping before even closing the door behind him at the sight of Leila and Damon. Leila jumped out of Damon's grasp.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you love." Klaus smirked Leila from the hallway.

"We uhm..." She stammered. "Sorry..."

Damon started to rebutton his shirt. "I'm not sorry. What brings you back to our little neck of the woods?" He looked at Klaus impatiently and a little annoyed.

"Nettie isn't here?" He asked, raising a brow, a huge grin on his face. He clearly had information they didn't.

The night Nettie had left he had felt it. He wasn't sure how or why but one second everything was fine. She was angry with him for trying to kill her. But the next he felt her... She was gone. From where he'd sat at his easel he had felt her disappear.

Klaus was sitting in a bar in New Orleans flirting with his progeny's girl friend when he felt the strange tingle. The tingle that told him she was back from wherever she had gone... He had come the second it happened.

Leila straightened her hoodie, pulling it up so it wasn't hanging off her shoulder. "What do you know that we don't, Klaus? We've been looking for her all summer."

"I just know she's in Mystic Falls." He had wanted to search her house but he figured he should play it differently. "I had intended to go looking for her but I thought, why bother when I can make you do it." He smirked at her knowing that she would do it.

"Yeah, well, good for you, you got your wish." Leila rolled her eyes. She still hated him with a passion. She walked past him, brushing his shoulder roughly with her own, towards the kitchen.

"Well, as you can see, Nettie isn't here." Damon stood up from his seat. "And Leila isn't exactly in the mood to chit-chat with you about her missing sister. Maybe you should go."

"I will go for now. But I am not leaving until I speak with Nettle. You understand..." He watched Damon carefully. "Because if I don't get that chance I will be forced to return here and hurt you Damon. And we do know just how much I enjoy that."

Damon gave him a fake smile. "I get it. Now go before Leila decides to get pissy with you." Klaus smiled, whooshing out of the house. The door swung back and forth behind him.

"Good, he's gone." Leila sighed before biting into a blood bag. She had a grocery bag full of more of them as she drank the one in her hand down. All of it.

"For now." Damon rolled his eyes. "I don't know why Klaus has spent all this effort on her. They're not exactly dating."

"Because Klaus is a psycho-stalker." Leila tossed the empty blood bag into a trash bin. "What I want to know is why he thinks she's back in Mystic Falls."

"Should we head back to the cabin, then?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

Leila raised the bundle of blood bags. "Sure. I got what we came for." Damon walked into the hallway to grab his coat. Leila followed. She smirked at him and got on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. "Let's go."

* * *

Leila pulled the house key from her pocket and unlocked the front door of the cabin. Damon had spent most of the summer there with her. She hadn't wanted to leave the place alone for too long. When Nettie decided to come back to Mystic Falls, Leila imagined that the cabin would be the first place her sister would go.

Leila pushed open the door and she and Damon stepped inside. Damon took the bundle of blood bags from Leila's hand and headed to the kitchen with them. "Not in here!" He called to her.

Leila glanced around the large living room, walking towards the staircase. She stopped where she stood. "She's here..." She said softly. She could smell that familiar smell of Nettie, her special blood that had made it so hard for Leila not to take a bite.

"What?" Damon called as he walked back into the living room.

"She's here." Leila answered a little more clearly. Damon blinked when the scent hit him. "Maybe she's upstairs." Leila couldn't contain her excitement. Nettie had been gone for so long without a word. She'd finally be able to see her sister again.

Leila bounded up the steps, Damon right behind her. She stopped by the bathroom door. "The showers running." Leila whispered. Damon smiled softly in understanding.

"I'll go pick up some milk." He told her. "Text me and let me know when it's safe to come home."

She went down stairs and waited for the bathroom door to open. But it was driving her crazy waiting to see Nettie. Every minute felt like hours. How long did she have to shower? Seriously...

Nettie finally emerged from the bathroom. She padded down the stairs quietly, joining her sister in the kitchen. "You're back." Nettie said, opening the fridge door like she hadn't been away for months. Wait... Where was her milk jug?

Leila starred at Nettie. "You mean you are back..." Leila smiled at Nettie from the other side of the fridge door.

"No... You stormed out of here last night rambling about how I shouldn't have let Niklaus into our house." Nettie raised her brow as she fabricated the reasons for their fight.

Leila put her hand on the fridge door and closed it. "What are you talking about? That was three months ago. You've been gone all summer."

"No Leila, I haven't." Nettie shook her head, scoffing. "Did someone hit you over the head?" Nettie asked her.

"Did someone hit you over the head? Damon and I have been looking everywhere for you. You never called, you never got in touch. We were worried sick. Everyone has been worried sick." Leila looked a little frustrated, like she didn't understand what was going on and it was driving her crazy. How could Nettie be acting like this?

"Leila I went up to the attic to... Read some of those journals. I fell asleep up there and... Long story short I have only been gone a few hours." Nettie dug through her kitchen drawer looking for her phone charger.

"You weren't in the attic. I checked. Twice. But that doesn't matter anyway because you weren't here." Leila took Nettie's hands in hers and gave her a pleading look, like she hoped her sister would finally come to understand what had happened.

Nettie couldn't forget the real fight they'd had. And even though she knew her sister had no idea what had happened she couldn't help but still feel pissed about it. She tugged her hands away, "Look, I don't really want to talk about this. Clearly you do not believe me. I came down from the attic this morning and ran some errands. Then I came home and showered. I haven't run off. So please... Just give me some space."

Leila held a hand up. "When did you graduate school?"

"June the first." Nettie told her, "Can I go now?"

Leila pulled her phone from her pocket and turned it on, showing the date to Nettie. "It's August twenty-ninth."

Nettie's eyes widened and she pulled her own dead cell from her pocket. She quickly moved to plug it in, and it flickered back to life. "Three hundred messages." She whispered. Her inbox was jammed full of texts from Leila, Damon and Stefan. Not to mention a few from Klaus and Elijah. "How is this possible Leila?"

Leila shook her head. "I... I don't know. I just know I thought that maybe you were dead somewhere and I'd never see you again. I was so worried about you, Nettie." Leila fought a rising lump in her throat.

Nettie glared at her. "I'm not insane."

"Then explain this!" She held out her phone again, flashing the date once more. "Tell me how this happened to you."

"I DON'T KNOW!" She yelled, slamming her hand down on the counter. Just when the starring war began Damon walked through the door.

Leila looked to him over Nettie's shoulder, then back at her. "Nettie, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down Leila. You have no idea what this feels like." She said right back, lifting her phone to delete messages.

Leila looked to Damon with sad eyes. "Nettie," she said as she watched Damon come into the kitchen hesitantly. "Nettie, please don't fight with me." Leila gave her sister a sorry look.

Her eyes moved from the phone to Damon. "I was going to come looking for you. Why are you here?" She asked him, raising her brow and ignoring Leila.

"I practically live here now." He put the milk gallon on the counter beside Nettie.

"Thanks." She said, cracking it open. "So she just moved you into my house huh?" She didn't make eye contact with Leila, in fact she began pretending she wasn't even there.

Leila sighed exasperatedly. "Really Nettie?" She groaned. "I didn't want to be alone. I was scared and in a bad place."

"When aren't you scared and in a bad place?" Nettie asked her, turning her head and looking at her sister exasperated. "Honestly. Look, I am going to get some rest. I didn't get to sleep until 3am and I've been running around like crazy." She waved her hand in Damon's face, taking the milk with her as she left them in the kitchen.

"Are you sure that your fight wasn't worse than you remember?" Damon asked Leila, pulling out a small tub of cookie dough ice cream and handing it to her.

Leila watched as Nettie left the room and leaned back on the kitchen counter. "I didn't think it was that bad." She took the ice cream. Damon always knew how to cheer her up. "She says she hasn't been gone but a few hours but it feels like she's been holding a grudge over our argument for three months."

"You think she's lying?" He asked. "Maybe I should talk to her. If she's mad at you it probably isn't helping her want to open up."

A sick feeling hit Leila suddenly. She couldn't understand why, but she shrugged it off. "I guess you're right..." Her mind wandered to the reason they had fought, "Don't forget to mention that Klaus won't leave us alone about seeing her." She couldn't help wonder what Nettie had done to make him stick around all this time. "Did I mention I hate Klaus?" She added, unable to stop herself.

"About three times already today." Damon smirked at her.

* * *

Damon knocked on Nettie's bedroom door the next day, leaning in to smile at her, seeing as how the door was already open a bit.

Nettie looked at him from the open doorway and moved the door with a flick of her hand. It swung open, hitting the wall roughly. "Hey." She said calmly.

"So you want me to move out?" He asked her, smirking.

"If you want to. Take her with you." She said, motioning to their room.

"You don't really mean that. She's your sister." Damon crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"When Stefan ruined the one thing in this world that made you just a little happy, you tortured him for 100 years." She said, raising a brow at him. "I'm fairly sure you haven't change that much Damon."

Damon sighed. "What did Leila do? What did she ruin?"

Her brow raised, "I don't want to talk about that just yet. I'm trying to figure out how to tell you." She could see the book from where she sat on the bed but she didn't move for it.

"You can just wing it." He suggested. "I'm actually quite interested in figuring out what has the sisters of the year at each other's throats." He paused for just a moment. "And it isn't fair to you if I just listen to Red's side of the story."

She eyed him, reminding herself that he had to care about her, they were related... At least she hoped that was the truth. "You mean that don't you?" She asked him.

Damon stepped into Nettie's room and closed the door behind him. "Of course I do."

"I did something I shouldn't have done. But I did it because if I hadn't... Something I've wanted for a very long time could slip through my grasp." She let it all out.

Damon pulled up Nettie's desk chair and sat in it so he could fold his arms over the back of it. He listened attentively.

"I may have had a fight with Leila but it wasn't about Niklaus." Her cheeks turned red and she felt bad. But she also knew it had been the only way for her to be sure she would be the one having this conversation with Damon, not Leila.

"Well, Leila really seems to think it was about Klaus. Was there a misunderstanding?" Damon raised a brow.

"You could say that..." She trailed off.

"You don't have to hide anything about this." Damon told her. "Think of me as objective."

"Yeah right... This is why I hate you and my sister being... Whatever you are." She waved her hand at him, "How can you be objective?" It was silly to assume he could be.

"Because as much as I care for Leila, I care for you too, just in a different way." He smirked.

"I compelled Leila to forget what we really fought about." She said it so fast it almost sounded like gibberish. But Damon seemed to understand. "She was being selfish and I got mad. She stormed out and I had to make sure she wouldn't blab."

"All right." Damon said, his tone neutral. He didn't seem upset.

"She just... She doesn't understand. She wasn't abandoned as a child. She's had her family, bad or no they were still something." Nettie was starting to realize that maybe she hadn't made a big mistake. Maybe she had been right..

"Leila just doesn't understand sometimes. You're right. She's stubborn and when she sets her mind on a feeling, it sticks with her for a long time. You don't have to justify yourself." Damon looked like he was willing to hear more of the story.

"I found this." She said, finally getting up and grabbing the journal. "Well, I found like a hundred of them. But this one is what caused our fight." She handed it to him. "The first entry if you can believe it."

Damon took the book and flipped it open. His eyes scanned the page once, his expression changing once he got to the end. He started to read it again.

"So even though I haven't been gone long I had time to think about this. And I've made a decision." One her sister may hate. But it had to happen for Damon as much as Nettie. It was the right thing.

He closed the book and looked to Nettie. She could tell there was a hint of a sort of betrayal in his expression, quite obviously not geared towards her. "What's your decision?"

She leaned down towards him, "I want to take away the compulsion." She waited a moment, keeping eye contact before she sucked it up and got it done. "Damon I want you to remember what really happened with Elizabeth McCleary, all of it."

Damon's pupils dilated, and after a moment he blinked at Nettie. He looked worried and there was something else Nettie couldn't make out. But he stood up, looking at the doorway. "I need to leave." He muttered before he disappeared from the room.

* * *

Leila flicked through the channels on the television remote, pounding the buttons hard. She'd overheard Nettie's and Damon's conversation. She couldn't have not heard it if she'd wanted to. Nettie had compelled her? How could she do that?

Leila threw the remote across the room and frowned deeply, hugging her legs against her chest.

Nettie made her way down the stairs and passed by her sister, not making eye contact. She grabbed her phone from the kitchen counter and began reading the messages that remained.

Leila turned on the couch, looking at Nettie for a moment, before realizing Damon hadn't come down yet. She stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Really Nettie? You compelled me? I've been thinking you left over our fight about Klaus for three months and it never even happened." Leila's tone was icy.

Nettie looked up from the phone, "I only changed the content, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is I've been living with your lie for the whole summer."

"Yeah well I hadn't meant to wait that long to tell Damon... That is on me. But it happened and I am not sorry." She said back, joining Leila in the living room. She sat down on the leather recliner and crossed her legs.

"Yeah about that." Leila glanced up at the staircase at the mention of Damon's name, then looked back at her sister. "What exactly did you tell Damon? The part I obviously couldn't hear."

"Just some personal family related things. I am sure when he's ready, he will tell you." She watched Leila hoping to see what she would do next.

Leila put a hand to her chest. "I'm your family. Why can't you tell me?"

"BECAUSE the last time I told you, you tried to turn it around and make it your problem. Because if I hadn't compelled you to forget you would have ruined everything!" Nettie stammered.

"Since when does this family who just up and abandoned you mean more than the one who loved you and took care of you?!" Leila retorted loudly.

"BECAUSE LEILA... They didn't abandon me. They saved me!" Nettie wrapped her fingers around the arm chair angrily.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: **

Leila wasn't fazed. "We saved you from a life with abusive foster parents. I'm the one who pushed becoming friends with Damon and the others. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't know as much as you do about yourself. You should be thanking me, not trying to push me away!" Leila kicked the remote she'd thrown earlier, sending it flying into the kitchen.

Nettie sighed, letting go of the chair, "I'm sorry Leila. You know I love you. I just need you on my side with this." Nettie asked her, letting go of some of the anger she was feeling.

"How can I be on your side when I don't even know what the hell is going on?" Leila asked, lowering her tone just slightly.

"Because if you would stop freaking out for a minute I WOULD TELL YOU!" Nettie couldn't understand why Leila was still yelling at her.

"You told me I had to wait for Damon to say something." Leila said through clenched teeth.

"AND you should! But I know you. I know you will just push everyone until they tell you. So just ask me to tell you and I will. But only if you promise to leave him alone until he can figure some things out!" Nettie wasn't finished figuring this out with him just yet.

"What do you mean leave him alone? He's my boyfriend, Nettie. We're there for each other." Leila seemed to be calming down a little, but she still had anger in her eyes.

"Because maybe I need you more. Because maybe... Maybe I need some support in all this. Not to mention you storming after him will only make what's coming next worse." She tried hard but she felt a tear fall down her cheek. She wiped it away as soon as it made itself known. "How is it that Damon can remain objective and you can't? We are family before you are his girlfriend. If you care about either of us you will give him time. You will give US time."

Leila parted her lips in surprise. "You know what? Don't tell me. I'll just keep my mouth shut. Won't ask you, won't ask Damon... I'll just stay in the dark until someone is ready to finally share." Leila grabbed her backpack.

"Good luck with that." Nettie mumbled, knowing Damon would most likely be lost to them for a while. At least until Nettie made the next move. She climbed out of the chair and went back up to her room, shutting the door behind herself.

* * *

Leila dialed Damon as she walked down the streets of Mystic Falls. It was taking everything in her power to not go back home and start the argument all over again. She put the phone to her ear and waited impatiently for Damon to pick up.

She hung up the phone after about ten rings and groaned. This had been the fifth time she'd called him. "Dammit Nettie, what did you do?" She muttered angrily, wondering if she should have walked out on her sister before getting an explanation.

She flipped to Nettie's name in her contacts. She'd said she'd tell her about what was going on if she left Damon alone. It didn't seem like it was going to be her choice whether or not she got to see him. She shoved her phone back into her pocket, thinking twice about calling Nettie, and kept walking.

* * *

Nettie had about fifty messages from Niklaus. She scrolled through each one, deleting it.

**Klaus: Where are you? **

**Klaus: What did you do to me? Where are you? **

**Klaus: I will find you and I will kill you Nettle. **

**Klaus: I am getting sick of looking for you Nettle. **

**Klaus: Okay, I'm sorry. Come back so we can talk about this. **

**Klaus: Fine. I get the message. Goodbye Nettle. **

Nettie sighed, getting the gist. "Dumb ass." He had tried to kill her. "Stop messaging me." She muttered angrily. She hadn't had much time to think about what they had done on the table in her attic. He filled her mind with poison and ruined her. She was broken hearted and had no one to talk to about it.

She missed her sister and she knew if she didn't smarten up and figure all this out, she would lose her.

Her phone buzzed.

**Caroline: Heard you were back. Glad to hear it Nettie. But you aren't getting out of getting your ass to school tomorrow. Dorm room is all set up. Be at Whitmore at noon. **

* * *

Leila gave Caroline a small, fake smile as she approached, a box of her things in her arms. "Hey, Caroline."

"Hey, here's our room number." She said, handing Leila a piece of paper.

She took the paper and looked at the number. "We're sharing with Elena right?" She looked at the blonde vampire.

"Yep, head on up and unpack." Caroline smiled, shoving her down the walk.

"Uhm, sure." Leila made her way to her dorm room. At least she wouldn't have to share a room with Nettie. She didn't know if she could handle being around her at the moment.

She turned a corner once inside the building and made her way to the room. She pushed open the door with her hip and looked inside at the place she'd be calling home the rest of the school year.

Leila paused at the door. "What are you doing here?" She looked at Nettie.

Nettie's head shot up, "I'm unpacking?"

"I thought you had a different dorm room..." Leila looked around the room again.

"No, Caroline planned this. You knew that." Nettie rolled her eyes.

Leila stepped into the room, pushing the door closed behind her and walking over to what would be her bed. She dropped her box down onto the mattress and opened it up.

"I've made a decision." Nettie said, sliding her suitcase under the bed and taking a seat on Leila's.

Leila looked to her sister. "Do we really want to talk about this right now? I don't want to fight with you anymore."

"I don't want to fight either." Nettie sighed, "I just want to put things back the way they should be." Nettie grabbed her sisters arm and fixed things. "I want you to remember what happened Leila." She said, compelling her once again. She only hoped it would go the way she wanted it to.

Leila's pupils dilated, and she stared back at Nettie. "Holy shit." She whispered, Nettie dropping her hand onto the bed. "Holy shit." She repeated.

"Don't start screaming at me," Nettie said quickly.

"I'm not going to scream." Leila sat on the bed. It looked like she was really trying to think things through.

"Good, I'd prefer if you didn't." Nettie told her, trying her best not to grin.

"So what you talked to Damon about at the cabin, was this. What you compelled me not to tell him." It wasn't a question. She was putting two-and-two together.

"I told him. He's my way to figuring out all the things we've been looking to find out about me since forever." She pressed.

"And I hope it all works out for you," Leila said, "I really do. But you understand why I got upset, right? Just tell me you do."

"I understand why you would be upset about what I was asking you to do. But I figured you would see that because of the circumstances... That it meant too much to me. I needed it to be this way." Nettie looked at Leila, "But I love you. And I'm sorry."

Leila nodded her head, leaning across the bed to throw her arms around Nettie's neck. "I love you too, Nettie. And I am also sorry..."

Nettie hadn't told Leila everything, but she hadn't lied either. All she could do now was hope that it didn't go horribly wrong. "Good, now. I'm in college Leila. So be nice to me, because I hate this already and I've been here all of one hour."

Leila giggled. "I'll be nice. Promise."

* * *

It was late when classes ended and Nettie was exhausted. She really didn't know why she had chosen to take History 103 but she had and it was boring. It really didn't help that the teacher was annoying.

"Hey." She sighed loudly, dropping her books onto the bed and laying down beside her sister. "Nothing from Damon?" She asked curiously.

"No..." Leila said softly, pulling her phone from her pocket to check again since Nettie had brought it up. "Nothing. I'm worried."

"I wouldn't be worried. It's likely he just needs time. It's not easy to have to get over something like this in the span of a few days." She hugged her sister close, and pat her on the head.

Leila snuggled in Nettie's arms. "Yeah, I can't even imagine. It's just, I love him you know? I feel like I should be there for him, and I'm not."

"I hate to say it Lei, but you are the last thing he needs around while he figures this out. She very likely broke his heart. He hasn't had a hundred and fifty years to get over it. But he may also just want to read the book I gave him." She could totally picture him hiding away and reading the whole journal. "We can't jump to conclusions."

"Yeah, you're right... I just wish he'd text me anything, just to let me know he's going to be okay." She put the phone away and shrugged smally. "Oh, well..." She said on a sigh.

"We should talk about something else." Nettie said, trying to get her mind off of it. "What did you do this summer? You know, while I was away."

"Besides a lot of bonding time with Damon?" Leila raised a brow, smirking. "I learned to get over my fears and start feeding correctly. I can use my vampire abilities now, and I killed a person." Leila rolled onto her belly.

"Oh. Well that's good news!" Leila looked at her funny, "Other than the part where you killed someone, obviously."

"Yeah, it's been easier." Leila nodded. "Better than how I felt when I was starving myself. I mean, I still hate the idea but what can you do?"

Nettie shrugged. "Glad you're doing better." She checked the time on her phone and sat up. "Ah, I gotta meet someone..." She glanced at Leila.

"You do? Who?" Leila raised an eyebrow. "Klaus? Oh! Did Damon tell you that Klaus was being creepily annoying about wanting to see you?"

"Nope, but he texted me a hundred goddam times. So I kind of figured." She said, pulling out her phone and showing her sister some of them.

"Ah, wonderful." Her tone was sarcastic. "So who are you going to see then, if not him?"

"A new friend." Nettie told her.

"Can I come along? Caroline and Elena went to that party, and I can't get ahold of Damon. I'll be lonely."

Nettie looked around the room trying to find a nice way to say no. But she couldn't, "Sure. I guess that would be okay." She smiled awkwardly.

Leila got off the bed, looking all excited. She grabbed her coat and grinned at Nettie. "Ready when you are. Thanks for letting me tag along."

* * *

Nettie and Leila stopped at a park nearby the campus. Nettie smiled and gave a small wave to a woman who approached them. "Nettle," the blonde said. She glanced at Leila curiously. Her gaze fell on her fingerless gloves for a moment and a look of confusion washed over her features. After a couple seconds, she nodded her head politely at Leila.

"Leila this is Beth..." Nettie and Beth were quiet a moment just looking at each other before Beth finally grinned, putting out a hand to greet her.

Leila looked between the two awkwardly before taking Beth's hand. "Nice to meet you..."

"Beth is new to Whitmore. She's here to teach Advanced art studies. She's an artist." Nettie smiled to herself proudly. "I'm going to take her class." Nettie grinned at Leila.

"Oh, awesome." She nodded. "I'm still trying to figure out what classes I want to stick with and the ones I want to change." But she had no idea why Nettie would take advanced art studies. She had never shown any interest before. Beth nodded her head, still smiling. Leila scratched the back of her leg with her foot. This was just getting more and more awkward...

* * *

"I got a text today." Nettie said to Leila. They hadn't seen Damon in at least a week but when Nettie had woken up she had two texts from him. She handed to phone to Leila.

**Damon: I'm home. Stefan's here to. **

**Damon: Sorry I ran off. Ready to talk. Come over tonight blondie. **

Leila looked up from Nettie's phone and glanced at her sister. "I didn't get any messages... And I called him like ten times." She handed the phone back over.

"Maybe he just wants to talk to me?" She asked Leila. "Maybe he thinks we need to talk alone first..." Maybe she shouldn't have told Leila. But she had chosen to disclose it. She wanted her sister to feel better, not worse.

"I guess." She sighed. "Just tell him I miss him." Leila pulled a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you kidding? You are coming with me. I know that we have to talk but I also know you two are dating. So to not call you for a week and then text me first. That's not cool. You're my sister and I'll kick his ass... After we talk about all this." She grabbed her book bag. "No classes today." She said, throwing it under the bed.

"Want to get an early start to Mystic Falls then? Get some lunch at the Grill before we head to the Boarding house?" Leila suggested, giving Nettie a smile. It was nice not fighting with her anymore.

"I say we get takeaway. I know you can't wait to get there and argue with broody." Nettie smiled sadly. She knew this was going to get so much worse for Leila. She just didn't have the heart to tell her.

* * *

Nettie slammed the door of the impala, putting on her angry at Damon face. Leila closed hers calmly, holding it together surprisingly well. Those three months of learning how to not be an emotional wreck was well worth the pain.

"Don't wait on me. I'm ready," Leila said to Nettie. She knew her sister was worried. She could tell by the way she was putting on a show. "I'm going to listen first. Then ask questions. Then kick his ass for not calling to tell me he is alright." She inhaled deeply. "Okay."

Nettie led the way inside the brother's house. "Broody!" Nettie called out, stepping into the hallway. She shed her jacket.

Leila just stood behind her, waiting quietly. Damon and Stefan walked into the hallway and she swallowed.

"Ladies." Damon said, not smiling. "How's college life treating you?"

"It's great actually." Nettie said, surprising everyone in the room. "I'm taking Art studies."

"Uhm, great." Stefan said, breaking the awkward tension Nettie had caused among them.

"I think it is." Nettie said, "So what is going on? Why are we here?" She asked them, playing dumb.

Leila glanced at Nettie before folding her arms over her chest. She averted her eyes to the family heirlooms on a table to her right. "I've finished the journal." Damon said, grabbing it from the table by the booze. He reached out and handed it to Nettie. "Thanks Blondie."

"So I am here so you can give me my book back?" Why the hell couldn't he have brought it to her? She could tell he was mad. She could see he was trying to pretend he wasn't. "You know what? Thanks. I'll see you around." Nettie said, shoving the book into her bag, "But I will say one thing Damon. You are an ass hat. Leila doesn't deserve to be ignored for a week while you come to terms with something that happened to you 130 years ago." She told him.

Leila looked to Nettie, opening her mouth to say something to her, but she was gone before she could. She debated on making eye contact with Damon. All she needed was him to be upset with her. It was easy to tell he was already in a bad mood. "I guess I'll go," Leila said softly.

"See you Red." Damon said rudely before grabbing the bottle closest to him and waltzing out of the living room.

Stefan stood stock still. "Damon's just upset. He asked Nettie here to talk about something... Family related. I think it threw him off kilter when you showed up too."

"I was just going to let Nettie come here on her own. She dragged me along." Leila said. "But seriously. When I had family problems, I didn't shut him out."

"Yes well, not all of our problems are the same." He told her. "Look, why don't you go back to Whitmore. I will talk to Damon." Stefan smiled sadly, "I'll let him know what an ass hat he is being." He repeated Nettie's fine choice of words.

"Thanks Stefan." Leila pulled her jacket closed, giving him a small wave before leaving after Nettie.

* * *

It was late when Nettie's phoned buzzed again, Klaus's name showing up on the caller ID.

**Klaus: I've been to your house, I know you are back. Where are you? **

**Klaus: You told Elijah you would help my family. If that wasn't true then I will be lead to believe you are against my family. Call me Nettie. **

"Who is texting at two in the bloody morning?" Leila grumbled, pulling her pillow off her head.

"Honestly Nettie, just answer it so we can all get some sleep." Caroline finished, throwing her own pillow at Nettie's head.

"I can turn the ringer off." Nettie said, flicking the phone to vibrate.

**Klaus: I will find a way to figure out where you are. You won't like my methods love. **

"I think I am being threatened." Nettie whispered, climbing into her sister's bed and yanking the covers over her cold feet.

Leila groaned and looked at Nettie's cell phone screen. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be dealing with hostile text messaging that late at night. She read a few of the messages and Nettie panned through them. "We'll tell Stefan about it in the morning. He'll help." She yawned. "But what the hell did you do to him? Thought you guys were going to start seeing each other?" Leila asked.

"Then he tried to kill me again." Nettie said sadly. It wasn't easy for her to admit to. "On graduation day. The day we fought and I went... Away."

"Shit." Leila pulled a pillow over her eyes. "I hate men. They're all stupid ass hats."

"I second that," Caroline mumbled from her bed. She sounded like she was already halfway asleep. "But Klaus is the king of ass hats." She added.

"What happened Nettie?" Elena asked, turning to look at the two sisters in the tiny twin bed. "I know he had been pissed off at everyone since you left. Elijah has been trying to stop Klaus's angry murderous tantrums for a while now. And he tried to stake Rebekah again."

Nettie rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. "He tried to kill me." She shrugged, "He said I was a threat to him and his family." She lowered her voice low enough that only Leila could hear here, "One thing led to another..."

Leila's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "Whoa, slow down. What?" Her voice was louder than intended.

"He was trying to suffocate me. Then he was... I dunno Leila I can't talk about this!" She said frustrated that was having issues explaining things.

"I don't get it, Nettie." Liela peeked at Nettie from beneath the pillow on her head.

"We..."

"Did you sleep with Klaus?" Caroline asked, frowning at her. He had killed so many people Caroline cared about.

"Nettie doesn't-"

"I slept with Klaus." Nettie said quickly, spitting it out and then covering her face with a pillow.

"Holy shit, Nettie." Leila sat up and covered her eyes with her hands. "No, no, no. You don't sleep with anyone. That's not you."

"I know but Lei, he's just so angry one second and the next he's kissing me. I can't think straight!" She hated and loved when it happened. There was no other way to say it.

"And now I know why you hate when I talk about Damon like that. There are just some things I shouldn't think about you doing. And this is one of them." Leila dropped her hands into her lap.

"So you slept together and now what? You're ignoring him?" Elena asked her. Shifting so she was comfy.

"Klaus isn't exactly boyfriend material." Caroline told Elena. "He could be choking you one minute and trying to get in your pants the next. Nettie's a great example of that fact."

"Stay away from Klaus unless you plan on killing him, or knocking him unconscious or something. He's dangerous Nettie. I don't like how he's threatening you." Leila looked Nettie in the eyes.

"I'm trying. But I would be lying if I said I didn't have a bit of a broken heart." She sighed, "I like him and I hate him. It's hard."

"You just need to find new hotness. Forget about old angry hotness." Care said smiling a Nettie. "Maybe it would help you get over him." And it was definitely something that had to happen.

"Take Caroline's advice or join the club," Leila said. "We can be broken hearted about guys together." Leila rolled over.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: **

"Trouble in paradise doesn't help all this get easier Damon." Stefan said, sitting down to drink with his brooding brother.

"Stay out of this, Stefan. It's between me and Red." Damon downed a whole glass of bourbon in one shot. "Besides, it's not like you're any better off with Elena. I thought you guys were going to stay friends. What happened?" Damon didn't really want to know and Stefan knew that.

"Don't make this my fault. You found out that your life was not what you thought it was. That surprised you, maybe it hurt you. But sometimes we end up in strange things we can't seem to get out of." Stefan tilted his glass, looking into the murky abyss. "You just need to tell her what's going on."

"And what do I tell her?"

"How you feel." Stefan choked out, trying his best to comfort Damon.

"How do I feel brother?" He asked him grumpily. He didn't know what to feel. He had thought Leila had fixed him. He had thought she was the only person who ever really loved him. But he had been wrong. So, so wrong. There were things in that journal that lead him to thoughts and feelings that scared him, "I don't even know what to feel. I loved her and she left. But she didn't leave for selfish reasons. So I can't hate her." Not like he had hated Katherine when he found out why she had run.

Stefan sighed and watched as Damon poured himself another drink. "So you don't hate Elizabeth, but what about Leila? Are you upset with her?"

"It's not about me being upset with Leila. I had a son Stefan, with a woman who I loved. I turned her and she left because she was in danger. She left to protect me. I missed out on something I don't even know if I wanted!" He slammed his glass down on the table loudly.

Stefan didn't flinch. "Maybe I should take a look at those journals myself. See if I can't find anything to help you out."

"I've read Elizabeth's journal over and over, Stefan. There's nothing in it that I don't already know. Besides, I gave it back to Blondie, remember?" Damon's eyes were cold. "She keeps them all at the house." He muttered.

"Well I think we need more insight. Text Nettie and ask if we can snoop." Stefan said, placing his glass down lightly next to Damon's. "We can do this together brother."

* * *

Nettie met Stefan and Damon at the cabin after her classes. She opened the front door and let the men in. "I don't know what you think you will find. The attic isn't... Available. But I do have some journals in a box under the stairs." The ones her and Leila had been flipping through.

"Thanks, Nettie," Stefan said, giving her a smile. He couldn't help but wonder why the attic was off limits...

"Keep Leila out of this. She doesn't need to be involved right now," Damon said with a venomous tone as he made his way inside and towards the staircase.

"She already knows most of this Damon. Until I can get back into the attic at the end of the month we won't get much more useful information. The good journals are up there." She eyed the top floor of the house. "Among other things." Her eyes wandered as she remembered just exactly where she had been for the last three months. But in a way it wasn't her story to tell. So she remained silent.

"Then don't let her know I was here." Damon said as he disappeared under the stairs.

Stefan sighed and gave Nettie an awkward smile before following his brother. "Thanks."

She watched him a moment. Whatever had happened to him that summer hadn't been good, at least it had to have done something. He didn't seem like himself. But she shrugged, not wanting to get into it. "Yeah..."

* * *

_January 17, 1870 _

_I met a man today. He isn't like any man I have ever met. He's got a sadness to him but at the same time he seems to fight it off. But that is not what stood out to me. He has a darkness to him I can't seem to want to fall into. _

_Ellen and I haven't been out very long but in that short time I fear I have met the man I can see myself spending more time with. Mother says I am being silly, she wished I find a finer man. One who works at the law office with Father. But all the men I have met there are dull and far too stuck up. _

_Damon flipped through the book again: _

_March 08, 1870 _

_Everything was good but I have ruined everything. Mother always told me never to make it known. To never show anyone, because if the council found out we would all be killed. _

_Damon Salvatore has seen what I am capable of. It was as though I could see the fear spread over him. What am I to do now? _

_What if he would tell the council himself? What would happen to me? My family? I have to be sure he stays quiet. I can't let this get out... _

"This is useless." Stefan said, "This is nothing more than your girlfriend swooning over you in her journal." He dropped the book down on the table. "How does it help to know that she likes her toast with jam?" He asked sighing.

Damon raised a brow, unsure why Stefan cared one way or the other. "I showed her I was a vampire." Damon said, pointing to another book, "And the rest goes on from there."

"We need the rest of the journals." Stefan said. "What about Bonnie? Maybe she can open the attic."

"Bonnie's been across country all summer. What makes you think she'll just show up to open an attic?" Unlikely, Damon thought. "What about Elena, isn't she seeing Elijah now?" Damon raised an eyebrow.

"You think he would let us borrow a witch?" Stefan asked, not reacting to the news about the love of his life seeing an original. But Damon was too upset to even notice, instead he pulled out his phone and started sifting through it.

"I don't have their number. We need to talk to her." Damon said, shoving it back into his pants. "That means a trip to Whitmore."

* * *

"Uhm, sure, I can ask him." Elena said to Damon, leaning against the door to her dorm room.

"Thanks." Damon sighed.

Elena smiled at something over his shoulder, waving. He turned, following her gaze. "So I think you will love it Nettie. It's really interesting the way they depict Fairy's." Beth said, smiling at her granddaughter.

"I think I am starting to understand how you got into taking this class." Leila said, realizing that maybe Nettie was looking into her past.

"Elizabeth?" Damon croaked from the dorm room doorway.

Nettie's head snapped up, eyes growing wide and glossy as she realized she had fucked up her plan. "Shit." She said blatantly. Leila stood in shock.

"Damon." Elizabeth said, stopping and smiling softly at him. But she didn't move from where she stood not ten feet away.

"Elizabeth?" Leila stuttered, "Elizabeth..." She muttered the words, everything locking into place in her head.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, feeling out of the loop. She looked at the four in front of her.

"This wasn't supposed to happen like this." Nettie said from next to Beth. "We can-"

Damon moved so fast it made Leila's head spin, wrapping his arms around Beth, hugging her tightly to him. "You're alive." He whispered.

"I think we should get some air." Elena said, noticing Leila's heart breaking. "Why don't we let them talk." She said, moving for Leila. "Nettie? You coming?" She said to the stunned blonde.

"I'm not leaving, I can't just-"

"We're leaving. They're talking. Let's go." Elena demanded. Pulling on Nettie's arm and taking Leila's hand. She towed them both out of the hallway and outside.

* * *

"How is this possible Nettie, I thought you were gone a day!" Leila tried her best to contain her anger. She sat on a raised wall, hands on the top of her head, legs pulled up to her chest. "Where did she come from?!"

Nettie looked down at her hands, fidgeting as she tried not to make Leila cry, but it was inevitable. "I don't want to tell you because I don't think you will believe me." She said sadly.

"Try me. Because I'm already in so much denial, I don't think I have any more room to add something else to the list." Leila's tone shifted from sad to slightly angry in seconds.

"Fairy." Nettie looked at Elena, trying to avoid her sister's eyes.

Elena looked between the sisters, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What's fairy?" She asked.

"It's... I don't know it's hard to explain it." Nettie sucked in her lip, biting down a moment, "It's another plane of existence. It's not... Time is different there."

"Is that where you were all summer?" Elena asked after realizing Leila wasn't in the mood to ask questions.

"Well now, I was only there a few hours." She said softly. "Leila and I were fighting. I was upset, I went up into the attic to clean up a mess that Klaus and I had made... And I sorta... Fell asleep. When I woke up and went down the stairs... The house was gone. When I opened the door there was only grass... And a tree. A big tree."

Elena sat down on a bench against the wall Leila was sitting on. She looked like she was getting comfortable, expecting the whole story from Nettie. "Care to share more?"

"I don't know, the place was empty. She was the only one there. She said she had been waiting for me." Nettie scratched her head, "She's was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. She looks like me don't you think?" Nettie asked randomly. "Anyways. She told me so much about what happened... I told her to come home. No one is looking for her now." Nettie shrugged. "She shouldn't be hiding out in fairy." Nettie left out a large detail.

"Oh my God, you brought her here." Leila gasped for breath. She looked ready to fall apart at any given moment.

"You don't get it Leila! For her it has only been days in Fairy. DAYS. To her she only just left her twelve year old son in order to save him." But they didn't know that part. "She left Damon and ran for years with Sam. Until the only choice she had was to lure them away from him. To save him. She ran to Fairy eventually and she's been waiting there for one of us to find her." Nettie couldn't just leave her there because Leila would have felt upset. That would be selfish.

"I can't..." Leila said, hopping off the wall. "I can't listen to anymore right now."

"No Leila. Stop running. Because this conversation is going to happen either way." Nettie said sternly, "You can't tell me I should have left Beth in that place just so you could be happy with Damon. She deserves to live where she's happy. Where she isn't alone."

"It doesn't matter what I say now does it? She's here. The deed's been done." Leila turned away from Elena and Nettie. "I need to go." She said it very seriously. "Before I flip my lid. I can't get angry here."

"Leila..." Elena said on a sigh. "Stop."

"Let her go, she always does anyways." Nettie bit out, grabbing her bag from the grass and throwing it over her shoulder. "I'll be in the dorm."

Elena looked at Leila and raised a brow, "If I've learned anything Leila, since meeting the Salvatore's... It's that nothing is set in stone. You need to face it or face yourself and decide if you can handle what they bring to the table." Elena jumped down and walked away, leaving Leila alone by the wall.

* * *

Damon could barely bring himself to pull away from Elizabeth. He was afraid that if he let go of her she would disappear again.

Elizabeth's arms came around Damon and she buried her face against his neck. Damon took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her, that distinct scent that she and Nettie shared, only he was sure that with Beth it was stronger. He resisted the urge to sink his teeth into her neck as he took a step back. He kept his hands on her shoulders.

"You'll be all right," Elizabeth told him softly, smiling. He had trouble figuring out how to not eat her long ago. But he had done his best because he had loved her.

"Don't leave again." Damon said. He couldn't stop the words from escaping his lips as he reached out to touch her hand.

Elizabeth let him. "I don't plan on going anywhere for a while, Damon." She touched his hand in return. "I've been hiding for so long. I never thought I would see you again."

They both stayed silent, staring for a while. "Where are you staying?" He asked her worriedly.

"Nettie has rented me a flat not far from the college. I've been there since we came out of the attic together." She was just the same as the day she had left, he couldn't believe it. He was so happy she was alive.

She sighed, "What is it Damon?" She knew that look all to well.

"We'll get your bags and you'll stay at the boarding house." He said, grabbing out his phone. "Stefan can deal with finding a witch to open the attic." He said off hand.

She raised a brow, "The attic? Why?"

"Because there are things up there I want to see."

* * *

Leila bit into her wrist and pushed it against the woman's mouth, forcing her to drink. After a moment, she stepped back, watching as the puncture wounds in the girl's neck closed.

Leila took a glance around the janitor's closet, then slowly opened the door and stepped into the hallway, wiping her mouth clean with her sleeve. She headed towards her dorm room as the woman she'd just few from hurried away.

"Leila?" Caroline's voice came from behind.

Leila paused mid-stride and glanced over her shoulder. "Shit," she sighed.

"What were you doing in the closet?" Caroline furrowed her brow.

"Not now, Caroline." Leila's voice came out cold.

"Leila, what happened?"

Leila didn't answer and started walking again. Caroline was in front of her in seconds. She grabbed the red-head's wrist. "Let go of me, Caroline."

"No I won't let go of you! Why was Damon talking to the art teacher in our dorm? Why are you angry and WHY are you eating people in closets?" She raised Leila's wrist, flashing the blood.

"Because I'm angry. I'm torn to shreds! Nettie brought Damon's long lost lover back from some stupid other dimension and now he's all over her. I've lost him, Caroline. And I'm _upset_." Leila pulled her wrist from Caroline's grasp. "I wish I never fell in love with him. Elena's right. Nothing is ever set in stone with the Salvatore's."

Caroline stared at her, she didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure sharing how Damon treated her in the start would help. But she always remembered it. "Just talk to him. I'm sure he's just trying to deal Leila. I like to think if we all just stopped and thought about things a moment that maybe we would get further in life."

"Caroline," Leila's eyes started tearing up. "He hugged her right in front of me. He didn't even realize I was there and I was standing right next to her." She bit her bottom lip as it began to tremble. "I don't want to talk to him. I can't."

"So he hugged her? It's not like he dropped his pants." Caroline said, laughing a bit.

"You didn't see the look on his face Care..." Leila threw her arms around Caroline's neck suddenly, holding her tight. "And Nettie's mad at me... How could things get any worse?"

"They'll get worse if you make them worse Leila. Talk to him before you make any rash choices." Care touched her shoulder lightly. "Promise."

"...Promise," Leila managed after a few quite minutes. "I promise, Caroline."

* * *

Nettie grumbled angrily, walking up the steps to the boarding house. Damon had taken Beth away from her and hadn't even told her what his plan had been. She opened the door and walked right on inside.

"BROODY!" She yelled loudly. "DAMON!" She walked around to the living room entryway.

Damon looked up from his seat on the couch at Nettie. Beth was sitting beside him, a glass of bourbon in her hand. "Twinkles," he said.

"Twinkles?" Beth's nose scrunched and she smiled.

"Have you called Leila at all Damon?" She asked him, dropping her bag on the floor and stomping towards them. "Did you think that maybe your girlfriend would be in panic mode because you showed up out of the blue and ran off with..." Her eyes softened at Elizabeth's glance. "I just want you to call her and tell her what is going on." She had never felt like that before. But when Beth looked at her, it calmed her right down.

Elizabeth nodded, touching Damon's arm lightly, "Damon if you need to deal with this I will be just fine. It's been many years since we have seen each other and I am a big girl." She said softly. "I still need to unpack."

Damon looked between Elizabeth and Nettie. "Is that the only reason you came here, Nettie?" he asked.

"I've had enough of you treating everyone like this Damon. I told you about all this because you said you would be able to handle it. It doesn't seem like you are handling anything!" Nettie told him, watching as Beth made her way up the staircase. "You need to grow up! You need to suck it up and deal with it. Because it isn't going away and it's only going to become more complicated."

"Fine. I'll call Leila. Now stop making a scene." Damon gave Nettie a slightly annoyed look.

"You are the one making all of this a scene Damon." She told him, "I shouldn't have to make you call your girlfriend. You know? My sister!" She was getting so mad, she just wanted to know what he was going to do so she could protect Leila. "I'm going to give you a day Damon and then I am going to come back angrier than I am. And when that happens I am going to make you do it. Do you understand me Damon?" She seethed.

"I get it, Nettle. I get it." Damon's face was a little red, like he was getting angrier by the minute. He wasn't lashing out at her, at least.

"One day Damon."


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: FLUFF **

Nettie's phone buzzed as she walked out of the Boarding house. She turned it on and saw Caroline's name flashing on the screen.

**Caroline: I found Leila coming out of the janitor's closet. She was feeding. Apparently she's been doing it for the last couple hours. **

**Nettie: What can I do? She just runs off.. **

**Caroline: I have her in the dorm room with me. I'll make sure she doesn't go on a feeding frenzy. Just thought you should know. **

Nettie sighed loudly and shoved her phone back into her pocket as she approached the Impala. She reached for the door handle then stopped. She felt lightheaded suddenly, things were spinning.

She reached out for something to grab, but there was nothing she could find before she stumbled backwards, falling on her ass. She put a hand to her head, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

After a moment she opened them again, the world wasn't spinning anymore. "The hell...?" Nettie said breathlessly. She slowly and carefully got to her feet, glancing around before opening the car door and sliding inside.

Nettie took a minute to find her barrings, hands on the steering wheel in front of her. That was new. She shoved the key into the ignition and sped out of the long, dirt driveway.

* * *

Leila walked down the sidewalk, backpack slung over one shoulder as she left classes the next day. She hadn't even paid any attention to the teachers, even in her favorite class. There was just too much going on outside of school problems that she was worrying about. She couldn't concentrate, she couldn't keep her mind off the hunger she just couldn't seem to satisfy. It didn't help that Caroline was keeping her under dorm arrest either.

Leila stopped walking. Damon was leaning against a pillar in front of her. He was facing away, looking at the wall, like maybe he was waiting for someone. Probably waiting for Elizabeth to get done with her classes, Leila thought.

She'd promised Caroline she'd talk to him, but every bit of her wanted to just hightail it out of there.

'Stop running.' Nettie's voice played over and over in her head. 'Let her go, she always runs anyway...'

Leila took a deep breath, trying to suppress all her anger and her fear. She approached him. Leila grabbed his arm firmly as she came to a stop behind him. "Damon, we need to talk."

Damon turned to look at her... Except it wasn't Damon. Leila blinked. The man resembled him it was almost uncanny. Charcoal black hair, icy-blue eyes. Even the way he held himself was exactly like Damon. "Excuse me?" The man said. Well, he sounded a little different.

Leila dropped her hand. "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else..." Her eyes explored the man's features.

"Something on my face?" He asked, smirking.

"Uhm, no." Leila shook her head, taking a step back. "I'm sorry. I should go."

"Just hang on a second!" He called after her, but the small vampire escaped before he could stop her. Shrugging, he leaned against the wall outside Art studies and waited.

* * *

Silas smiled to himself after hanging up on Elijah Mikaelson. Elena had come through and he was on his way to figuring out how he could save Amara. All he needed was a little fae magic and he was home free.

* * *

"We have to tell them." Nettie whispered to Jeremy from where they sat in the large classroom. Beth was showing slides of old Dali paintings and Nettie was getting a bit bored. But Jeremy had tagged along and she was happy with that... "Bonnie has been gone long enough. We either tell them she's dead or we tell them she isn't coming back. You choose."

"She doesn't want anyone to know, Nettie. She's being adamant about it." Jeremy said quietly.

"I know that Jeremy. But maybe it shouldn't be up to her anymore. We can't keep lying to everyone, I won't be able to keep track anymore." She couldn't keep a lid on things when they were this unstable.

Jeremy chuckled. "You lying that much, Nettie?" He smirked at her. "You know lies have a way of coming out eventually." He leaned the chair he was sitting in back on two legs. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we should tell everyone about Bonnie."

"I'm getting tired of holding back the truth. I've decided to turn over a new leaf Jere." She said, patting his arm, "So if your going to tell them. Good. I'm not going to hide it if they ask me." The bell rang and people began getting up out of their seats. Jeremy stood to leave and find his sister, "Thanks for visiting Jere." She said. "But try to remember I don't really like you." She teased, sending him off to his sister.

"Who was that?" Elizabeth asked, approaching Nettie after Jeremy had gone. She smiled. "You have a lot of friends."

"That was Elena Gilbert's brother. She's one of the doppelgangers." Nettie said, smiling at Beth.

"Oh, so he's related to Katherine Pierce?" She asked, a worried look on her face as she spoke about Katherine.

"Yep." Beth's glance faltered and she reached out to grab Nettie's arm. "What is it?" Nettie asked worriedly, spinning on the spot. "Holy shit." She breathed as a man, the spitting image of Damon moved towards them from the classroom door.

"It's..."

"Mother." The man said, his eyes filled with hope as he looked at her.

"Samuel..." Elizabeth said on a breath. She dropped her hand from Nettie's arm and hurried to her son. He drew her into a tight, loving embrace. "You're okay."

"I've been waiting to see you again for so long." Samuel told Beth on a happy sigh.

"Holy shit... This was not supposed to happen..." Nettie breathed, staring at the two with wide eyes.

"Samuel, did you find Elizabeth?" A man stepped into the classroom. Nettie couldn't help but feel like everything was falling apart around her. Nettie met his gaze and it almost fell away.

He had big blue eyes, like puddles of water on a clear day. His hair was blond and cut long. But that wasn't what had made her pause. It was the way he had looked back at her. Almost like he was surprised by something.

"Yes. Mother, this is Joseph. He is the reason I am alive to see you return home." He smiled, reaching out for his friend.

Joseph came further into the room, peeling his gaze from Nettie, and gave Elizabeth a smug smile. "Pleasure."

Elizabeth looked a little confused, "The vile?" She asked him carefully. But Samuel's eyes were locked on Nettie. He wasn't sure why she was there, or why she smelled the way she did. "She's alright. She's Hubert's granddaughter." Beth smiled softly at her son. His worry faded, turning into understanding.

"Hubert had children." He said to her, almost trying to process that information.

Nettie smiled awkwardly, putting her hand up in hello. "Hey." She mumbled, unable to find the words. She knew Hubert was dead and this was the closest she was going to get to meeting him.

"I... Where are your parents?" He asked her, curious to see them as well.

"Nettie's parents are no longer with us." Beth said sadly to her son. "She had been living with the Maxwell family. Nettie could see recognition, as if he knew them. But she figured they were a Founding Family. If Beth had brought him here as a child then he would have most likely met a Maxwell at some point.

"We should leave and discuss this at the Salvatore's house. I am staying there." She said to her son. Once again his eyes flashed recognition.

* * *

Leila climbed out of her beater car parked in front of the Boarding house. She had already faced the knot in her stomach earlier that day. She didn't want to have to do it again, but Damon had called and asked her to come over.

She pushed open the front door and stepped inside, walking into the living room, where she always happened to find him. Exactly as she had thought, he was standing in the room with a bottle of bourbon in his hands. "Damon," she said softly. "You called me?"

"We need to talk Red." He told her, placing the glass down.

"Then go ahead. Talk." She didn't move from the spot she stood.

"You know what's been going on?" He asked her carefully.

"Most of it. Nettie has been filling me in." Leila took a breath. She could already feel her emotions heightening. She didn't know if she was mad at him, or worried about him...

"I've been acting like an ass.." He told her. "But I'm not sorry about her being here Red. I am only sorry that I haven't talked with you about it." He loved her, he felt bad. The longer he got, the deeper he dug the hole he was in.

"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't fix things." She bit into her bottom lip. "It doesn't make the pain go away."

"I haven't done anything to you Leila. I've just been trying to figure out how to deal with all this. Nothing is going to change." His eye were pleading with her.

Leila crossed her arms. "Sure, Damon. You say that. But I saw the way you looked at Elizabeth. You went to her, you held her..." She took a breath. "You didn't even see me. I was right there."

"We hugged Leila." Damon tried to reason with her.

"Why didn't you say anything to me? You haven't spoke with me in weeks, I was right there and you said nothing." Leila's voice rose a tad.

"I KNOW THAT!" He yelled at her, "YOU.. You get upset about everything! I just wanted to deal with this before we had to fight about it!"

"Look who's fighting Damon!" Leila dropped her arms to her side. "I didn't want a fight. I was telling you how I felt."

"Maybe this is a mistake." He said, not being clear as to what he meant.

"What's a mistake?" Leila narrowed her eyes.

"This." He motioned between them. "I think we should take a break Leila." He snatched the glass back up off the table, drinking it quickly.

Leila felt like she'd been stabbed through the heart. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, couldn't move to run away like she always did when she got upset about something. She just stared at him, feeling tears coming on.

"Hey guys." Elena said awkwardly, on her way down the stairs from Jeremy's room. "Everything alright?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah. Everything is crystal clear all of a sudden." Damon said angrily. Then he was gone, leaving Elena and Leila alone.

As soon as he left, Leila took a shaky breath, then out of nowhere she grabbed Damon's liquor table and threw it into the fireplace roughly. Little bits of glass flew through the air as the liquid splattered in all directions.

"Whoa, Leila..." Elena watched, shocked.

"Can you drive me home?" Leila asked her, thinking it wasn't best to drive herself when she was this angry. "My car's in the driveway." She said, dropping the anger as soon as it happened. Then she handed Elena her keys and made for the door.

* * *

Leila got out at the dorm's and followed Elena upstairs. She was tired and her heart was aching but for some reason she couldn't cry about it. She was numb.

* * *

"This is seriously weird." Jeremy said, watching Damon glare at Samuel. "You look identical." He laughed.

"Yeah, I would say so." Stefan agreed.

Elizabeth watched Samuel and Damon carefully. She wasn't entirely sure how she thought this might go. "I don't understand." Damon said, breaking the strange silence that had blanketed the room.

"I gave him a vile of my blood when I had to run. He was supposed to take it when he was ready, and then wait for me to return. Things didn't exactly go as planned." She smiled at Damon, hoping he would come around.

"I got into an airplane accident and was saved by a vampire," Samuel explained. "I guess you could say I was pretty lucky."

"You're my kid..." Damon said again.

"He's our kid." Beth corrected him.

"Holy shit." Jeremy kept laughing.

* * *

Katherine stumbled from the woods, coughing, a bit of blood was left over on her hand and she looked down at it worriedly. "Please, help me!" She cried out, noticing a woman moving towards her on the small road into Mystic Falls.

"Your Elena Gilbert aren't you?" The woman asked her.

"Well actually, I'm much prettier." Katherine tried to smile at the lady, but the coughing had started up again. "Please, just help me."

The woman reached into her bag, and sprayed Katherine in the face with her mace. Katherine yelled, falling onto the road at her feet.

The lady began punching keys on her phone. Katherine glared up at her through bleary, stinging eyes and launched herself at the woman. She knocked her onto the ground, grabbing the phone and crushing it.

Katherine slugged the lady in the face, massaging her wrist as she looked at the unconscious woman. "Agh, dammit!" She grumbled.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" A man's voice came from behind Katherine. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened at the sight of Matt cocking a shotgun and aiming it at her. "Not as much as this will."

* * *

The boarding house door seemed to open every ten minutes and Nettie was beginning to feel relieved that she didn't live there. "So you guys can take the cabin seeing as I will be staying in the dorm." Nettie told Samuel and Joseph. "I'd feel better if someone was there anyways."

The blond man hadn't said much to her. But he nodded in appreciation. "Then when we get the attic open you can go up there and find out what happened to your son." She suggested to Samuel.

She handed over the keys. "I'll be around tomorrow. Elijah will be here and he's bringing someone to help us figure it out. Now... Damon! Did you go to the grocery store?" She asked him, hand on her hip.

"What?" He shook his head in confusion.

"Milk. I need it, now." She had still not worked up the nerve to go to the store alone... Not since the incident.

"There's some in the fridge. Just take it blondie." He ruffled her hair. He seemed like he was in better spirits out of the blue.

She smiled up at him and made for the kitchen.

* * *

The front door swung open again and Damon looked up into the entryway to see who was else had decided to stop by. Klaus stormed into the living room, anger evident in his expression.

"I gave you a week." He smirked, ignoring the others in the room. Until he caught their scent. His eyes widened. "She's here isn't she?" He asked again.

Nettie was muttering obscenities as she held up the empty milk jug, walking through the door of the kitchen. "This is empty Damon. EMPTY! You're trying to kill me again. I knew it." Her eyes fell on Klaus and she stopped dead on the spot.

Klaus turned to look at Nettie, eyes wild. "Not a great idea to ignore me love." He said, a look of anger about him.

"Why are you here?" She asked him, relaxing her shoulders and straightening out.

"We need to talk about some things Nettle." He told her, not asking.

"We talked the last time I saw you. I don't have anything else to say." She wasn't looking to be murdered. She wasn't looking to be pushed into another steamy kiss. She wanted to never be reminded of her feelings for him. "You should go."

"I'm not leaving until we talk. I can begin dropping bodies if that would change your mind love." Klaus's tone was demanding. His eyes moved to a man standing not far from Nettie. His hands were balled into fists at his side, but he didn't move to help her. Klaus shrugged it off, "Shall we?" He smirked, knowing these people wouldn't stand up to him.

Samuel began to shift from the other side of the room near Beth but Damon reached out and grabbed him by the arm, stopping him.

"Nettie?" Beth asked, "Do you want us to-"

"No it's fine. I'll talk to him. I don't think I could handle another fight anytime soon." She said, grumbling under her breath as she followed after him.

"Who was that?" Joseph asked, watching the attractive blonde follow the angry man out the door.

"He's one of the Original Vampires." Stefan said, "I've learned over time to just give him what he wants. Things can get very complicated with his family."

"Should one of follow them at least? Make sure she will be alright?" Sam suggested. Looking worriedly at Damon. He had only just gotten his family back. He wasn't ready to lose them just yet.

"I will." Joseph said, leaving after them at vampire speed.

* * *

"I still want you to leave." Nettie walked down the driveway with Klaus, crossing her arms as he lead her towards a path and into the woods.

"You disappeared after that night. You were gone for three months without a word to anyone. Where did you go?" Klaus didn't seem concerned, didn't seem angry. He was eerily calm.

"Don't worry Nik, I wasn't plotting to kill you if that's what you're worried about." She said grumpily. "If I wanted you dead you would be."

"So you don't want me dead?" He asked her, stopping them when he was sure no one in the house could hear.

"I would prefer it if you went back to New Orleans if we are being honest. We are being honest aren't we?" She asked him, searching his face for something. A reason why he wouldn't leave her alone.

"Yes, honesty..." Klaus gazed at Nettie with the same look, like he was searching her for something too.

"We shouldn't have... Gone into the attic." She said, changing her mind.

His eyebrow rose slowly and he tried to figure out what to say to fix things. "I'm not going to kill you Nettle."

"Really Klaus? How can I trust that? You came to my house to spend time with me, then you tried to murder me. Make up your mind!" She didn't yell, but she was getting upset.

Klaus had Nettie in his arms before she could react. He pressed his lips to hers roughly, passionately, like he was hungry for her.

Nettie kissed him back for a moment, remembering why she had liked him in the first place. But a rustle behind her made her stop. She pushed him away, "No Klaus. I don't want this anymore. You need to leave me alone." She told him. "Try to kill me or don't. But I can't do this." She took a step back.

"You told me to make up my mind. I did. I don't want to kill you. I want to be with you, Nettle." Klaus gave Nettie a very serious look, like there wasn't a doubt in his mind. "I won't leave until I get your confession."

"My confession?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Me." He said, a sad smile on his lips. "As soon as we are done here I'm going to walk away Nettle. And I won't be coming back." He stepped towards her, "You won't have to pretend anymore that you don't feel the same way about me as I do you. You'll never have to loathe the darkest parts of yourself that care for me. I will be gone. And you will be free."

Her breath hitched as he stood close enough to kiss her again. "I just." He exhaled nervously, "Want you to admit that you have feelings for me."

Nettie let out a sigh, shifting on her feet. "I'm in college." She said, "I just found out I have family, real family. I want to build a life for myself with them. I have Leila's plans to worry about. We have a future to build. That doesn't include you Klaus."

"I get it." He said.

"No you don't get it. I cover my feelings for you with hostility because yes, I hate myself for the truth and what it does to my sister. But if you promise to walk away then, yes. Yes I will be honest with how I feel."

"I will walk away." He watched her let out a deep breath, "I will walk away and I won't be back." She closed the gap between them, touching her cold hands to his stubble.

"Good." She whispered, reaching up and kissing him. She knotted her fingers in his wavy hair. Klaus held her close, caressing the back of her head as he pulled her nearer to deepen the kiss. After a moment she moved back again and whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry."


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38:

Leila closed the cabin door behind her, looking around the living room. She hadn't been there in a while. And after the summer spent with Damon there, she couldn't say she missed the place. Too many memories. "Nettie?" She called, seeing that her sister wasn't in the living room, even though she'd messaged her, asking her to meet her there.

Nettie came down the stairwell a laundry basket in her hands. "Hey. I just need some help clearing some of our stuff out of the bedrooms." She said, shoving it under the stairs.

"Why?" Leila's tone was flat as she watched Nettie stash away her things.

"What is it? I thought you and Damon made up..." He seemed like he was feeling better...

Leila gave Nettie a cold, half-smile. "We broke up."

"No you didn't." Nettie said, not sure what the hell was going on.

"He said, we needed a break." Leila walked closer to Nettie, running her hand over the leather recliner. "So we're having a break. A permanent one." Leila's voice was still flat.

"Holy shit Lei, I'm so sorry. You want me to hurt him for you?" She asked, furrowing her brow. Fully meaning what she had said.

"No." Leila looked to her feet. "I can't cry about it, Nettie. No matter how much I think about this, no matter how much it hurts, I just can't cry."

"What can I do?" Nettie asked, hugging her sister close.

"I thought about it..." Leila started, hugging Nettie back. "And it made me hurt even more... Then I realized I'm never going to get better like this." Leila paused a moment. "Take it all away, Nettie... Please."

"A- Are you sure?" She asked her sister. "And what? I can't erase him completely."

Leila pulled away from her. "I want this. I can't love Damon as much as I do and see him with her, kissing her, holding her... I thought he and I had something real. I just want to forget about it all. I can't handle it anymore..." She swallowed a rising lump in her throat. "Make me forget I love him."

"Okay. I'll do it." Nettie said, moving back and taking Leila's head in her hands. "I want you to forget the love you feel for Damon. I want you to replace it with memories of you two being friends for Stefan and Elena. To make it easier on them. But he never loved you and you never loved him." She stopped and looked at Leila, "When I'm done you'll only remember that you and I have helped his family out of some dark situations. I saved you on Wickery bridge. And you're happy."

Leila's pupils dilated in return, and after a moment, she smiled at Nettie. "So you wanted me to help you clear the rooms, right?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Nettie said awkwardly in return.

* * *

Nettie grumbled, "We are out of milk here too." She said, slamming the fridge shut. "They'll all be here soon and I'm going to be in a bad mood because of this!" They had spent the night in the cabin one last time before Joseph and Samuel took it over for a while.

"Well, I can call Damon." Leila suggested. Nettie raised her eyebrow. "You're always asking him to go to the store for milk."

Nettie huffed, "No I need to do it. I should be able to do it, right?" She asked her sister.

"Uhm..." Leila gave her a worried look. "I don't know. The last time was... bad."

"Yeah but that was years ago. I can do this." She was determined this time. "I'm gonna do it." She grabbed her keys off the hook, "Just... Make sure everyone is here before we try to get into the attic. If I'm not back within the hour... Come get me."

* * *

Nettie stood in front of the automatic doors at the grocery market, starring inside, eyes narrowed. People passed in and out, eyeing her strangely. She'd been standing there for a good fifteen minutes.

She knew it, she couldn't do it. She was never going to do it.

* * *

Nettie pulled into the driveway, smiling at the four jugs of milk in the passenger seat next to her. She never actually made it into the building but she has figured out what compulsion was good for. She would never have to go in as long as she could make someone else do it for her.

She pulled into the long, winding driveway that led to the cabin. Nettie slowed down the car when her home came into view. The yard was full of cars. Guess that meant everyone was already there.

Nettie parked and climbed out of the Impala, hurrying to grab her milk. She closed the passenger's door with a bump of her hip. Nettie stood back up and stopped, wobbling back and forth a moment. "Whoa." She said, dropping two of the jugs and grabbing onto the metal of the car. "What the hell?" She mumbled before darkness took her and she hit the forest floor.

* * *

Leila looked up at the clock on the microwave, frowning. Everyone was here, and Nettie should have been back by now. She couldn't help but wonder if the incident at the supermarket had happened all over again. She glanced into the packed living room, eyeing the face of a blond man she didn't know. She glanced back at the clock. "Nettie... where are you?"

* * *

Klaus had arrived at the cabin moments before he saw Nettie's car pull into the driveway. He had promised to leave and never come back but the moment he tried to do it, he had stopped himself.

She was carrying milk jugs and he smiled at it. She was silly and it had bothered him at first. But the way she was when it was just them was different. It was when she hit the ground that he stopped hiding and moved towards her.

"Nettle." He said softly, reaching down and scooping the small fairy up into his arms. "Nettle!" He said again, panic stricken. He looked around at the cars around him and wondered if he should bring her into the house or take her to the mansion. He knew people who might be able to help. But at the same time he knew Elijah and his witch were on the other side of those walls.

He lift her carefully and raced for the door.

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" Leila exclaimed as Niklaus threw open the door and carried Nettie inside. Everyone in the room turned to look at him, and Leila came from out of the kitchen. Her eyes widened at her sister unconscious in Klaus's arms. "Nettie?!" She was across the living room and by her sister's side in seconds.

She pulled Nettie from his arms and took her to the couch and laying her down. "What did you do to her?" Leila asked angrily.

Damon glared at Niklaus. "What the hell happened?" His tone was venomous.

"I found her like this. Perhaps instead of yelling at the person who brought her in off the cold gravel you could ask yourself how long she was lying there unnoticed by her family." He smirked at Damon.

"We don't need you here. I think you have overstayed your welcome." Samuel said, stepping out in front of Klaus and blocking him. He looked down at Nettie. "Nettle." He said softly, kneeling down to her.

Klaus blinked a moment, realizing that he was being ignored. "I'll leave you to it. In fact, I'll leave you to Mystic Falls. Don't bother telling her I was here." He said, masking his sadness with smugness.

"Didn't plan on it," Joseph said, crossing his arms.

"Sophie." Elijah motioned to Nettie on the couch then followed Klaus outside.

The witch kneeled beside Leila and reached to put her hands on either side of Nettie's head. Closing her eyes she chanted under her breath. When she was done Nettie's eyes began to flicker open.

* * *

"Brother." Elijah said, following Nik out of the cabin.

"What?" Klaus said, spinning around and glaring at Elijah.

"She just needs time. For her it's been a few weeks. For you it's been almost four months." Elijah knew Klaus had no idea.

"It doesn't matter. I was wrong to come here at all. I'll be home dealing with Marcel. When you're done with Elena I'll be waiting."

Elijah sighed, watching as Klaus sped away at vampire speed.

* * *

"Oh my God, Nettie." Leila threw her arms around her sister as she came to. "What happened?"

"I..." Nettie grunted as she sat up. "I don't know. I got lightheaded. Next thing I know I'm here." She blinked and looked to Leila, confusion in her eyes.

"Have you fed recently?" Leila took Nettie's hand and squeezed it gently.

"Yeah, of course." Nettie glanced around at all the faces watching her worriedly. "I fed this morning." Normally that was enough to last her a day or two.

"You'll be fine," Sophie said, standing suddenly.

"You know what is wrong with her." Joseph said, watching her stand up.

"What makes you think I know?" Sophie Devereaux glanced at him. "She's fine. We should see if we can't open this attic."

"Yes, lets." Stefan said, moving from where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"Someone's an eager-beaver." Damon commented, glancing at his brother.

"Yeah well, this has been filling our days and I just want to get it all over with." He said back, following after the witch.

Everyone started up the steps, Damon and Elizabeth the last ones to go up. Damon glanced over at Nettie and Leila for a moment before disappearing up to the second floor.

"Do you want to just stay here and rest? I can make sure they don't take the shiny things in the attic," Leila said, giving Nettie a small smile.

Nettie's face grew pained, "I hadn't thought about that." She hadn't thought about it for a while now. The only shiny object she had kept close was the ring on her finger. She looked down at the dark blue sapphire.

"Rest," Leila said. "I'll take care of things." She stood up.

Nettie grumbled and passed the group by. She decided to lay down in one of the rooms until they were finished. Then she could head back to the dorms with Leila.

* * *

Leila watched from the top of the stairs as the group gathered around the hall closet. Her eyes fell on a familiar face, the man that looked remarkably similar to Damon. She glanced at the both of them, comparing. Damon was taller, for sure, by a good few inches. The man had eyes similar to Nettie's, blue and brown.

He glanced over at her.

Leila blinked, and looked away quickly, to the witch as she opened the closet door and stepped inside of it. "There is something here." She muttered, tracing the peeling wallpaper inside. "This wall is a door." She said to the group.

"Then open it," Damon said. "You can do that, right?"

"I would hope so seeing as she came all this way." Samuel said to Damon, "No use bringing witches into our lives if we don't have to."

"I can try." Sophie replied. "I don't see why I shouldn't be able to."

"Thank you, Sophie," Elizabeth said politely. "Samuel please." She eyed her son. He glared right back momentarily before turning on his heels and heading for the stairs again.

"I will check on Nettle." Joseph said, bowing out of the group.

Leila scooted against the wall, making room for the man to pass her. She watched as Samuel headed downstairs, then glanced at the group. Leila actually found this to be a bit boring. There was no telling how long it'd take for the witch to open the attic. She didn't really feel like sitting there and waiting.

Leila stood up and headed downstairs herself.

* * *

Joseph knocked lightly on Nettie's open bedroom door and looked in at her lying on the bed. "Are you awake?"

Nettie rolled over and looked up at him from the bed. " I am."

"Feeling better?" Joseph took a couple steps inside.

"Hunky-Dorey." Nettie said on a sigh. Sitting up she swung her legs over the edge and looked at him. "Is there something else you need?" She asked, not realizing it was rude.

"It's actually pretty boring watching a witch stare at a wall. Did you know that?" He smirked.

"I think it's boring to watch anyone stare at a wall." She eyed him a moment, smiling as her cheeks grew warmer.

"So this is your room is it?" He asked, looking around. There wasn't much to it. No posters on the walls or art of any sort. Just a room painted olive green, a desk and a bed.

"Yep, I moved my things out this morning so you guys would have a clean start." She climbed out of bed and slipped her boots back on. "I am honestly just happy that Sam is going to stay a while."

"Well, he's been searching for his mother for quite some time now. I doubt he's going to just leave Mystic Falls if she's here, at least for a while." Joseph shrugged one shoulder.

"And you? What are you searching for?" She asked him, searching his face.

"I saved Samuel back in 1988. And Sam saved my ass quite a few times in return. We watch each other's backs. I just want him to be happy."

Nettie nodded her head. "Alright. I buy that. It's a similar story with Leila and I." She said softly. "I'm glad Samuel had a friend when he needed." She smiled up at him as she passed him in the doorway.

* * *

Leila stopped in the kitchen, in front of the fridge, opening the freezer and pulling out a small carton of cookie dough ice cream. She fished through the silverware drawer to her right for a spoon.

"Snack for the show?" A voice came behind her.

Leila turned on her heels, looking up at Samuel. "Uhm, no, not really."

"I could use something." He said, opening the fridge and pulling out one of Nettie's jugs of milk.

"So you know a lot more than we do about fairy's." She said.

"I guess that's true." He told her, pouring the milk into the biggest glass he could find.

"So do you know why you all drink so much milk? I think I would almost rather Nettie smoked. It might cost less." She smiled, shoving another bite of ice cream into her mouth.

Samuel started downing his drink. He set it down on the counter empty. "Maybe there's just something in it we need." He shrugged, "We never really figured that part out." Until he had seen Nettie doing it he had thought it was something his mother had done and he had picked up on. Clearly he had been wrong.

"Oh..." Leila said softly. "So, what's it like having Damon as your dad?"

"I'm not really sure. It's only been about two days since I met him. I came here for my mother, not to meet a father I haven't known in over a hundred years."

"Your mother is really sweet. And a great artist." Leila smiled, scraping ice cream off the lid of the carton absentmindedly.

"Never underestimate a fairy." He told her, reciting something he had once heard. "My mother is a very capable person Leila."

"Were you waiting for her that day? When I ran into you at Whitmore?" The memory was really fuzzy.

"I had found out where she was. Joseph and I got on the first plane." He took the stool next to her, leaning on the counter.

"And how did you find that out? Where she was I mean." She clarified, entranced at how much he looked like Damon.

"It's a fairy thing I assume. That or a bonding thing. She popped from Fairy into this world and I knew. It's instantaneous." He told her.

"That's... Amazing," Leila said. She put the carton of ice cream down.

He pulled up the sleeve of his sweater, revealing a vampire bite scar. "Fairy's have a certain way of bonding with someone. They can do it with family, loved ones. My mother did this before she left." Leila's eyes widened, recognizing the story. "There's a small catch of course. A rule of sorts."

She looked up at him, wide eyed.

"The two people have to love each other." He pulled the sleeve down and smiled at her. He was thinking that he might like it here, and Leila was going to be a big part of that.

* * *

Nettie peeked into the closet. Sophie had her hands on the wall and was chanting loudly. Suddenly the lights in the house flickered on and off then on again. Sophie stepped back and the wall distorted, waving like the ocean until the staircase started to appear, like looking at it through water. Nettie's eyes lit up at the sight.

"It is done," Sophie opened her eyes and the waving stopped. The staircase was there in an instant. Like it had always been there. "And before I go I wish to speak with you in private." She said to Elijah. He nodded, following out towards the porch.

"So this is it?" Stefan asked her, eyes wandering up the long staircase.

"Yeah?" She said, "Earth to Stefan, there's the staircase." Nettie pointed to the winding stairs.

Leila and Samuel came up to the group. "What happened? The lights just flickered," Leila asked.

"The witch did it. She opened up the attic," Joseph said, glancing at Samuel.

"Let's get up there. I'm starting to get bored of all the dumb questions." Nettie said, pushing through and up the staircase. The others followed behind her.

"Wow." Damon said on a breath, "You've been holding out on us blondie."

"I wasn't holding out. The place only opens on a full moon. What did you want me to do broody, pull the door out of my ass?" He smiled at her comment. She was starting to sound like the old Nettie once again.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Samuel asked, looking between his parents and Nettie. "There was a reason we needed to get in so urgently wasn't there?"

"Some of us still don't have enough information to feel comfortable with you all being here." Stefan said, moving towards the bookcase. Nettie's head shot up and she gave a strange look to Leila.

Leila watched Stefan with a look of confusion on her face. "Everything okay, Stefan?" She asked.

"It is now," He mumbled.

Damon crossed the room and put a hand on Stefan's shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?"

Stefan started piling books into a bag. "Just getting what I need."

"Who's Silas?" Elizabeth asked out of the blue.

Damon was pushed back against the table as Stefan turned on his heel. Before anyone could even react, he was gone. Nettie blinked, jaw falling open. "Holy shit. You've got to be kidding me."

"How did you not see that it was Silas, Nettie? I thought you could tell!" Leila looked over to her sister as Elizabeth and Samuel crossed the room to Damon.

"He must not have been hiding his face. When he was trying to be someone else he just flickered like an old movie. He wasn't flickering." Nettie ran a hand back through her hair.

Damon grunted as he got to his feet and he looked at Nettie, narrowing his eyes. "So where the hell is my brother?"


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39:

Damon and Elizabeth stood at the quarry's edge with Sheriff Forbes. Liz looked at the two. "Damon, I know I said I'd help you find your brother, but I can't dredge this entire quarry. It's enormous."

Damon frowned. "I'm aware of that. I mean, clearly that's why we wanted to dump Silas' body here-Because it's big and deep and no one would find him. Now, say I'm Silas, and I wanna take over my doppelganger's life. Why wouldn't I dump him in a place that's big and deep, where no one would find him?"

Liz sighed. "Damon, I already agree to hold off on telling anyone about the Mayor's death until you figure this all out, but I can't devote those kinds of resources to finding one person who may or may not be down there."

Damon's shoulder's slumped at the Sheriff's hesitance. "But it's a place to start. And if Stefan's down there, that means he's been drowning over and over again all summer, while I was happily playing house with Leila. Do I need to further elaborate the source of my urgency?" Damon gave Liz a serious look.

"Damon." Beth said, trying to get his attention. He raised his gaze to hers and she smiled. "Maybe I can be of some assistance?" She asked him. She didn't wait for his answer, walking to the edge of the cliff.

She closed her eyes and listened.

* * *

"So your night was long I take it?" Caroline asked Nettie, watching as she wiped the makeup off her eyelids. It had smeared all down one side of her face when she fell asleep on the leather couch in the cabin.

"You could say that. Honestly I wouldn't even call it fun. It was boring." She sighed, dropping her shoulders, "Not to mention Silas made off with some of my books. Now I am fairly sure I want to murder him."

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Wait, Silas is back? I thought Stefan dumped him in the quarry? I thought Bonnie petrified him?"

"Silas was never gone. Bonnie did petrify him but the veil went back up and he came back, clearly." That was the only explanation.

"What the hell are we going to do now?!" Caroline raised her voice, looking very distressed. Silas had been their toughest foe yet.

"I dunno. I can probably figure something out." Nettie shrugged.

"Nettie is the only one who has been able to hurt him so far." Leila told Caroline, coming into the room with a towel wrapped around her head. "Check this out; party." She said, handing Caroline a flyer.

Caroline glanced at the purple paper, then back at Leila. "You're thinking about a party? I thought you were too upset to do anything. You've been all upset for weeks."

Leila furrowed her brow. "I... have been?" She couldn't remember being upset.

"Caroline must be confused." Nettie's eye bore into Caroline's. "Because why would she have any reason to be upset?"

Caroline gave Nettie a confused look. "Uhm... Yeah. I don't know what's been going on. I just figured you'd be upset over Silas more than you are." Caroline gave Leila a small smile, then glanced at Nettie when Leila turned her back to brush her hair.

"I don't know," Leila said, digging through her dresser drawers. "I just think Nettie can handle it. I'm not scared." She smiled at her sister, "So we're going right? You won't have to wear terrible shoes OR dance."

Nettie groaned, then looked back at Leila a minute. "I guess I'll go."

Leila grinned wide. "Great. It'll be fun. You coming, Caroline?"

"Yeah." She jumped up, "And I am going to wear terrible shoes." She grinned.

* * *

Leila grinned as Nettie, Caroline and Elena walked with her to the bonfire, where everyone was gathered. "I've been waiting for some fun college parties!" Leila said, turning and walking backwards as she spoke to the girls.

"Uhm, yeah..." Elena said, smiling back at her. Leila turned around and hurried away to talk to some of her friends from classes. "What the hell was that? I thought she was heartbroken?"

"She made me erase it." Nettie told her, cracking open her beer.

"Erase it?" Caroline asked.

"Like erase what? The fact that she was mad?" Elena raised an eyebrow, grabbing a beer herself.

"Try the fact that she ever loved him." Nettie raised her drink to them then took a large swig. "Cheers."

Caroline's jaw dropped. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because she is always upset about Damon and I'm tired of it hurting her. Before him she never got mad like that. She didn't cry all the time." Nettie told them.

"Damon makes people that way," Elena said. "Believe me, I know."

"Does Damon know?" Caroline snatched a beer off the table and popped it open, taking a swig.

"No, but I doubt it matters. Let's talk about something else okay? This is a party." Nettie told her. She'd answered their questions, what else was there?

Caroline sighed and nodded her head. She glanced over Nettie's shoulder and raised her eyebrows. "Speak of the devil."

Nettie turned around, following Caroline's gaze. Damon approached the party with Elizabeth, Samuel, Joseph and Stefan... Wait, Stefan?

"Why is Silas with them?" Caroline asked quietly, afraid to be overheard.

"Silas?" Elena whispered, looking between her and Nettie with wide eyes.

"It's Stefan." Nettie told them. "Why would they bring Silas anywhere near me when I feel only murderous rage when I think of him." Nettie finished her drink, grabbing another one.

"I'm going to go talk to them," Caroline said, putting on a fake smile. "Because obviously, something is wrong. And that tall blond guy is super hot." She pranced over to the large group.

"Might as well join her," Elena sighed, following Caroline. "Coming Nettie?"

"No." She mumbled, doing it anyways after she realized she was being left alone.

"Hey guys," Caroline said, stopping in front of Damon. She glanced at Stefan, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I'm Caroline." She said, putting on her flirty smile as she shook Joseph's hand.

"Caroline," Stefan smiled warmly. He looked exhausted, for some reason.

Caroline glanced at him again, surprised that Silas would acknowledge her like that. She turned her attention back on the blond. "Joseph," he told her, shaking her hand.

Caroline dropped her hand to her side, and looked at the others in the group. She did a double take at Damon's almost-double standing beside him.  
"Caroline Forbes." She said, reaching out for his hand too. "And you are?"

"Samuel."

"Okay ready for this?" She asked Caroline. "This is Damon's son, my great great grandfather." Nettie told her.

"Oh, wow..."

"That's Damon's son?" Elena asked aloud. Both the girls seemed shocked to actually see Damon's child in the flesh.

"Yes. NOW, can we please not yap about this shit anymore?" Nettie whined, "I'm going to drink at least six of these." She held up the can. "Who is going to join me? Because whichever one of you says no can go away and talk to me tomorrow when I have a wicked hangover." Nettie said getting grumpy. She was tired of talking about Damon's son and Beth. She just wanted a break.

"I'll join you, Nettle," Joseph said, squeezing past the group to get to her. Nettie looked up at him, ignoring Caroline's sigh. "Wicked. Let's do this." She said handing him a can. The two wandered off.

* * *

"So, what brings you here? You're not a student." Nettie smirked at Joseph.

"I'm starting a job as a student teacher at Whitmore Monday. Does that count?" He took a drink of the beer in his hands.

"That was fast." Nettie told him. "Seems us vampires are lucky."

"Are you saying I compelled my way into my new found job?" He asked her, looking at her with a friendly smirk. "Because I did." He laughed as he spoke and Nettie couldn't help hold back a huge grin.

"Awesome." She set her can down on the log they were sitting on.

"How about you start telling me about yourself? It seems you're always the one asking questions." Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"What is there to know. I hate a lot of things. I drink to much milk according to my sister and my parents died when I was two." She shrugged, "I don't get out much."

"Do you like the family you were adopted into?" Joseph asked curiously.

"I liked Leila. I am not sure much else mattered." She had been lucky in her sister, not so much in her sister's parents. But together things were better than they could have been.

"It's nice that you had her. I didn't have any brothers or sisters." Joseph leaned forward, elbows on his knees and he glanced at her beside him. "Only Sam."

"All this must be a lot for you." Nettie was feeling like it was too much for herself. She could imagine how he was feeling. She couldn't help wonder about Sam and Joseph's past. But she had promised herself she wouldn't talk about those things tonight.

"It is." Joseph nodded. "I won't lie. But I'm okay with it. Sam's happier for it, so I'm happy too. Besides, I wasn't doing anything else."

"Okay." She laughed. "Sounds legit." She yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"Tired already?" He chuckled. He turned in his seat, pulling off his jacket and draping it over Nettie's shoulders. "You and Samuel have the same quirks don't you? Most vampires don't get cold, but he does. Evidently so do you."

"Thanks..." Nettie said quietly, a little surprised at his gesture.

"I'll walk you back to the group. Sam doesn't do well with drinking either. Falls asleep pretty fast. He won't be partaking tonight. He can drive you home." He hopped off and took her hand, helping her from the log.

* * *

Samuel groaned quietly and to himself, glancing over at his mother and Damon chatting away with Stefan. They were filling him in on the whole ordeal, something he had heard quite a few times already, and he was getting a little tired of it.

Samuel glanced around at the college students socializing around the bonfire. His eyes fell on Leila, standing alone by the beer table.

"I don't know why I came here." He said, "But you are the only one who knows what's going on and doesn't want to talk about it over and over." Samuel wasn't used to all this interaction, having been mostly a shut it with his friend.

Leila glanced at Samuel and smiled. "Well, why talk about it, right?" She shrugged. "And I'm guessing you came along because everyone else did." She handed him a beer can.

"Joseph wants to spend time around Nettle. I fear it won't end well for him." He confided in her. She made him feel calm enough to speak his mind. That was a rare thing.

Leila frowned slightly, cracking open her drink. "What makes you think that?" She took a swig. "That it won't end well, I mean."

"It's his thing and personally if I were him I wouldn't want everyone around me to know about it. But I will say that he has his issues. Sometimes they have an... Effect on those around him. But he doesn't find himself intrigued by women very often. In fact I've only known him to do this once before and that was at least sixty years ago."

"He won't hurt Nettie, will he?" Leila asked. She bit her tongue. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that, but Nettie was her sister, and she would do everything she could to make sure she was safe. "I only ask because you won't tell me the whole story. And the last guy... Wasn't a good one." Even though Nettie wouldn't talk about it much she knew it had messed with her head.

"That Original?" She nodded at him. He sighed, "He's much older than I am. He was living in Sweden at the time..." He trailed off, lost in thought.

"You really care about him..." Leila smiled, taking his wrist and walking him away from the student body. "You were saying?" She asked him as they began making their way into the dark woods.

"He's at least two hundred and thirty one. Give or take a few years. His memory can be messy at the best of times." He kept his eyes on the path before them.

"Wow that's... old." She gave Sam an amused smile.

"He was wounded during the war. Or I should say, a war." He looked over at her, "Did you know that some vampires can come back... Different?" He asked her, curious if she had seen it before.

"Different how? I know I've been having a hard time controlling myself when I get mad now that I'm a vampire... Stefan goes on a murderous rampage if he drinks human blood." She paused. "That's not the kind of different you mean, is it?"

"Not exactly. I've been looking into it since I met Joseph. What happens when a man's body has been almost torn to pieces and he loses large portions of his brain... Someone turned him after he was hit up close with a musket. Took off most of the top of his head." He told her.

"That's horrible." Leila frowned deeply. Thinking about that happening to someone she knew really seemed to bother her.

"He loses pieces of time. Sometimes on bad days he gets... Angry. It all mixes together and can be a deadly combination." They finally stopped by the lake. He looked out across it. "It can be frightening if you don't know how to deal with it."

"I couldn't imagine." Leila shook her head. "So sorry that happened to him. It's sad."

"I've tried to heal him. But the vampire part of him has done what can be done. So we travel together, he looks after me. I can be difficult. I look after him, he can be equally as difficult. We make a good team." He had sadness in his eyes as he spoke about his friend. But what could be done?

"Sam..." Leila touched his arm. She felt bad.

"It's fine, really. I just don't want to see them get hurt. Nothing more." He tensed at her touch but relaxed almost instantly after. "Has Nettie healed?" He asked her, changing the subject rather quickly.

"Uhm..." Leila pulled her hand away, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "Well, she seems fine. She hasn't fainted again, but I mean, it's only been a couple of days."

"When did she decide to become a vampire?" He was curious. He hadn't wished it on himself. But he knew it was the only way back to his mother. When he had lost the vile of blood she had given him he was distraught. But Joseph had found him in the wreckage and saved his life.

"Not long before graduation. I think it was the same day... I don't exactly remember. She cooked up this whole little scheme, and went about it secretly. She's strange that way."

"She sounds like a fairy." He said, laughing. "You can't blame her for it. It's in her blood to be that way."

Leila liked the sound of his laugh. She laughed softly with him. She couldn't help herself. "I love Nettie the way she is. I wouldn't change her for the world."

"Nor should you try." He sighed, "Joseph." He said, looking out onto the trail ahead of them. "Everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. I have come to ask if you would take Nettie home. She seems exhausted." Nettie wasn't with him. Leila looked around worriedly. "She is waiting at the Impala." He finished.

"Just exhausted though, right? Not sick or lightheaded?" Leila raised an eyebrow at Joseph. It was evident in her expression she was scared about what had happened.

"Not that I am aware of." He told her, smiling kindly.

Leila relaxed a bit, smiling back.

* * *

Katherine shivered, holding her hands out towards the campfire. She stared across at a shotgun as Matt and Jeremy returned from their little walk in the woods for kindling.

"Don't even think about it," Jeremy said sternly.

"Please. I wouldn't even know how to use it." Katherine rolled her eyes. "I've never shot a gun in my life. Didn't need to — I was much more deadly."

"Keyword: was." Jeremy gave her a look.

"I'm gonna go get some wood for the fire. I'll be back." Matt sighed and headed back out into the forest again.

"I survived childbirth, the death of my entire family and five hundred years of running from an immortal hybrid. You can understand why I'm a little upset that I'm on the verge of being defeated by a sinus infection." Katherine coughed and shivered again, rubbing her hands together for warmth. Jeremy draped a blanket over her shoulders, quiet.

Katherine looked at him, surprised, then hugged the cover tight.

* * *

Matt held a lantern up high as he walked, watching his step.

"Not a word out of you. You can't talk, and you can't scream."

Matt turned quickly at the sound of Silas' voice. "Yeah actually I can. JEREMY RUN!" Silas grabbed him.

"Why can't I get inside your head?" He took Matt's head between his hands, narrowing his eyes as he tried to read the boy's thoughts. He growled at seeing Nadia and her friend performing their spell on Matt. "Now I see why. Somebody's already in there. Why are you watching me, Traveler? Odpowiedz mi!" Silas snapped Matt's neck. Silas gives him a long look as he laid dead on the ground before he hurried off.

* * *

"Jeremy?" Matt looked to Katherine and Jeremy as they ran his way. "Jeremy, hey, there you are, man. What-" Matt frowns and watches disbelieving as the two run right by him, like he wasn't even there. "What the hell?"

"Freaky isn't it?" A familiar voice said from behind. "The feeling... the void... the emptiness."

Matt turned. "Bonnie, what's going on? Where the hell am I?"

"The Other Side. The Gilbert ring brought you here when you died. That's how it works — temporarily brings your spirit here. To go back, you have to reconnect to your body." Bonnie explained, smiling.

"My body's not even here." Matt looked around the immediate area. No sign of his body was anywhere.

"That's because each time you die, you wake up farther and farther away from it... And you wander the Other Side until you find it." Bonnie stepped closer to Matt.

"Wait. If I'm on the Other Side, how can you see me?" Matt furrowed his brow, confused.

Bonnie frowned, her expression saddening. "There's something you should know..."

* * *

Katherine and Jeremy stopped at the truck. Katherine panted as she turned her back against the cold metal and looked at Jeremy. He tossed her the keys. "Get in the truck and drive."

"Where are you going?" She frowned.

"I can't leave Matt." Jeremy explained.

Katherine shook her head. "Wait. How do you think I survived 500 years? It wasn't because I was a vampire — it's because I never looked back. Don't be dumb — survive." She put her hand on the car door's handle.

"That's why people treat you like an object and not like a person." Jeremy bounded off into the woods.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40:

Matt walked around with Bonnie, talking as they searched for his body together.

"It actually hasn't been so bad." Bonnie said, "I have Jeremy, and I see Grams sometimes. Last night with my dad was the first really hard time...I'll be okay, I just have to get past these next few days."

"Bonnie, you don't have to pretend like it's okay. Your dad died, and...you died. That's not okay." Matt frowned deeply.

"It has to be, because there's nothing I can do about it." Bonnie gave Matt a sad smile.

"I am so sorry..." Matt shook his head, wrapping his arms around Bonnie, hugging her close. Bonnie trembled and started to cry, hugging him back.

* * *

Leila closed the door quietly behind herself, stepping into the hallway and turning out the lights when she was sure Nettie was comfortable and ready for sleep.

"All good in there?" Samuel asked.

"She's going to sleep like a baby tonight," Leila said, laughing as she spoke. She leaned back against the door, looking up at him.

"That man that came to the boarding house... Is he something I need to worry about?" Sam asked her. Joseph stood ten feet away, waiting.

"He usually just disappears when he gets angry. He'll come back later, all moody and soften up when he sees Nettie. He's dangerous, but I don't know if I would say you should worry about him." Leila explained.

"That's good. I am glad she has you Leila Maxwell." He said, taking her hand and kissing it softly. "Good night."

Leila blushed. "Night, Sam." When he let go of her hand she gave Joseph a little wave before getting ready for bed herself.

* * *

"Matt!" Jeremy exclaimed, running over to Matt's body. He crouched, relief washing over him at the sight of the Gilbert ring on his hand.

"Now, if my best friend died, I'd at least pretend to cry. Which leads me to believe he's not really dead. I take it that tacky old ring somehow protects him?" Silas asked from behind.

Jeremy turned to look at him. "Too bad you can't get inside my head to find out for sure. Hunter's perk."

"See, that's what you don't get. When I can read your mind, I at least have use for you. Now...I'm just gonna kill you." Silas cocked his head to the side, his tone casual.

"You can try, but none of your abilities work on me, so right now, you're nothing. Slower than a vampire, weaker than a vampire. I, on the other hand, am a hunter." Jeremy said, "Plus, I work out." He picked up a hatchet from the ground beside Matt's body. He threw it at Silas, but it missed.

Jeremy charged him, shoving him against a tree. He was pushed away, but Jeremy came back strong, throwing punches and blocking Silas' until they came to an impasse. Silas head-butt Jeremy and he staggered backwards.

Silas knelt down and picked up Matt's lantern, swinging it at dazed Jeremy, but it flew too high. Jeremy rushed at him again and put Silas in a headlock, moving behind him. Silas reached for a branch on a tree in front of him and broke it off.

"You might be stronger than me, but you're forgetting...that I...am immortal." Silas shoved the sharp end of the branch through his shoulder, impaling Jeremy from behind him. Jeremy groaned, gasping in pain until Silas yanked the branch back out. Jeremy fell to the ground.

Silas picked up the hatchet, narrowing his eyes at Jeremy as he got up in a crouched position. He raised the hatchet, then yelled out in pain as he was struck by a gunshot to the chest.

Katherine looked to Jeremy and smirked.

"I thought you didn't know how to use that." Jeremy asked Katherine.

"I figured it out." Katherine shrugged. She lifted it again, taking another shot at him. He hit the ground at their feet and the gun dropped at her side.

* * *

Damon stood in front of the fireplace. It was late, and he was tired. Beth's feet padded down the stairs softly and she joined him in the living room. "It's late." She said. She sighed, "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked him.

Since she had come back, there had been nothing more than familiarity between them. But she could see they were both feeling some... Tension. At the same time he was only just made available to her. She didn't want to push him too far.

"I'm alright. I'm just a little overwhelmed." He smirked, pushing his feeling aside to look at her. "I'm grateful for Nettie." He told her.

"So am I. She is a very special woman." She was the spitting image of Beth and she had a willingness to learn from her. He reached out and took her hand. "She needs to be kept safe Damon. If anything happens to me."

"Nothing is going to happen." He told her, looking into her eyes.

She moved closer, running her hand over his cheek. "Is it wrong that I am glad you aren't with that girl?" She asked him.

He moved the rest of the way, locking her into a long passionate kiss. One that he wouldn't forget. Then she stepped back and smiled, "Good night Damon."

He looked back at the fireplace. "How long were you standing there?" He asked Stefan, turning to find his brother in the doorway of the dining room.

"Long enough." He said, looking at the drink in Damon's hand. "No bottle tonight?" He asked.

"Don't need it." He was actually not having a terrible day. He was pushing his feelings for Leila aside. He was dealing with family, and he had Beth in his house and she was safe.

"You sure about that?" Stefan asked him, raising his eyebrow. He knew Damon was hiding from something. It was only a matter of time...

"I'm sure." He smirked in return.

* * *

Silas sat in his parked car, talking on the phone. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "You ever play the "What if" game? When you're calcified for two thousand years, you learn to entertain yourself with these little brain teasers."

A woman's voice answered back. "Look, Silas. This phone is prepaid, and I don't have a lot of minutes."

Silas smirked. "Oh, no, no, no. It's really easy. I'll go first. You know how much I hate Travelers, so to prove your allegiance to me, you killed your Traveler friend, Gregor. But what if it was all an act? What if he's still alive?"

"You saw him bleed out. You buried his body yourself." The woman was persistent.

"But what if Matt's tacky ring brought him back to life?" Silas glanced out the window at passing traffic.

"If this is the game, it's boring." Her voice was flat.

Silas sighed. "If we're gonna work together, I need to know that you're on my side. So, find out if Matt Donovan's still alive, and kill him."

"Fine. Say Matt is still alive. What if he could help us to find Katherine Pierce? She's still your priority, is she not?"

Silas smiled. "Yes, she is. So, get the information that you need, rip that ring off Matt's little finger, and make sure he doesn't cheat death again."

There was a short pause before she answered. "I'll take care of it."

* * *

"Morning." Samuel said, joining Stefan on the front steps of the boarding house. He wore a clean gray dress shirt like he always did. "It's strange being back here after so long." He told Stefan.

"I bet. It's been over one hundred years, right?" Stefan looked out over the property, at the woods in front of them.

"Something like that." He looked Stefan over, noticing the sweat on his brow. His fists were clenched at his sides, but there was nothing around to aggravate him. "It gets better." Sam told him, drawing his eyes to his Uncle's.

Stefan took a deep breath. "Doesn't feel that way."

"Of course it doesn't. You just spent three months drowning over and over again. I assume that takes a toll on a man." Trauma had a habit of doing that. Not many people escaped it.

"The feeling doesn't go away. It's like I'm dying over and over again." Stefan put a shaky hand to his forehead, running it down his face in exasperation. "I can't escape."

"It takes time. Something like that won't go away over night. But you can start by reminding yourself that you're still here. Not in that box at the bottom of that lake." Stefan wasn't as strong as most vampires. He didn't feed on humans or even drink human blood. Samuel found that very interesting but at the same time he wondered if it also meant his mind wasn't as strong.

"I'm fine... I'll be alright..." Stefan said quietly, trying to convince himself everything would really be okay. "It's strange though. It's normally Damon who finds himself in the position I am in. I sometimes can't help ask myself what happened." He was proud of Damon for turning his anger around and becoming who he was now. But Stefan found himself falling into a never ending pit of darkness, he couldn't help feel a little jealous.

* * *

Leila and Nettie were supposed to meet after classes were out for the day. When the bell rang, Leila shoved her books into her backpack, smiling at Joseph across the room, where he stood behind a desk, in front of a chalkboard with his name written on it. She enjoyed having Joseph as a teacher and his first class had gone well.

"How was it?" Nettie asked, peeking in to look at the crowd of people taking Joseph's class. She was super bummed because her course load was already too much to handle and she had missed out on taking Occult studies with Leila.

"Good." Leila grinned, crossing the room to her sister. She looked back at Joseph. "See you later!" He looked up at Leila and smiled. His eyes fell on Nettie and he stopped a moment before smiling her way as well.

"Beth wasn't here today. Some stupid fill in was teaching her class." It was boring. "But I did find this." Nettie said, holding out her hand. In it lay a small shiny geode.

"Awe, sorry to hear that. I know you love her classes." She eyed the rock. "Oh, pretty. Bet you're keeping that to add to your collection, aren't you?" She gave her sister a grin.

"You can't have it." Nettie eyed Leila, she was sure her sister wanted it. But she was going to hide it like she had the rest of her collection. "You should really focus on finding your own stuff Lei, I can't keep having this conversation with you." Her eyes went squinty as she looked at Leila.

Leila laughed. "I just said it was pretty." She picked the small stone out of Nettie's palm and looked at it closely. "You can keep it if you want. I mean... You did find it after all." She held it back out to her sister.

"Right." Nettie grumbled, shoving it back into her pocket.

"What? Why are you grouchy?" Leila raised a brow.

"I don't know Leila, I'm pretty sure I'm dying. But other than that I have no reason to be." Nettie groaned, resting her head on Leila's shoulder as they walked.

Leila furrowed her brow, grabbing Nettie by the arm and dragging her out into the hallway, out of Joseph's classroom. "What the hell, Nettie? Dying?" She looked worried. "You fainted once. It happens. Maybe you just didn't... I don't know." Leila's shoulders slumped.

"Yes but I'm dizzy all the time too, Lei." Nettie sighed, "Are vampires supposed to get dizzy Leila? I doubt it."

"I... I don't know. Maybe you should talk to Stefan or Damon." Leila suggested.

"I guess so." She shrugged, still worrying.

"Right. Then let's go. I'm worried about you." She started pulling Nettie down the hall, towards the exit. "Have you fed today?" Leila asked her.

"No, and if I'm being honest it doesn't matter. Everytime I.. Eat I end up hungrier than when I started."

"Nettie, this could be really bad..." Leila thought a moment. "Maybe it has something to do with being a hybrid. I can talk to Sam. Or maybe Joseph would know something..." He did teach Occult studies and spent over a hundred years with a fairy.

* * *

Matt frowned at seeing Nadia, the woman he had had a fling with when he and Rebekah had traveled abroad over the summer, when he stepped outside to toss out some garbage. He walked over to her, angry. "What the hell did you do to me? Look, I know you and your creep-show boyfriend screwed with my head the other night, so who the hell are you and what do you want?" He remembered Nadia and her lover showing up during work hours, remembered then man grabbing onto his head, but everything else that had happened was blank.

"I'm here to keep you safe from Silas," Nadia explained, pushing back a strand of brunette hair.

"Silas?" Matt narrowed his eyes. "What do you know about Silas?"

"I know that he still wants you dead. You're going to need to trust me, okay?" Nadia raised a brow, looking to Matt for an answer. When he didn't move, she reached out and put her hands on either side of his face. He closed his eyes. "Vyjdou, Gregor..." She said softly.

Matt's eyes snapped open. His voice came out in a Czech accent. "What the hell? YOU KILLED ME!"

Nadia gave him a small, sad smile. "Gregor, I'm sorry, but Silas was going to kill you." She cringed at the thought of the murderous look in Silas's eyes when they'd stopped him at a gas station. She had had a plan, and she couldn't have let her boyfriend mess it up. "Doing it myself was the only way to salvage the deal. I need his trust."

"So you slit my throat?!" Gregor was still furious.

"You knew the stakes. It is why we put you inside the person with the invincibility ring." Nadia tilted her head to the side, looking into his eyes.

"So now what? I am just a passenger that you can call out of Matt's head and put away whenever you want?"

"I will find a way to make this permanent, Gregor, because I love you, okay? And I will do anything, anything, for you." She pressed her lips to his softly.

Gregor pulled away. "Tell me where you buried my body."

Nadia nodded. "Okay... but first, you will have to dial your friend Elena Gilbert and find out where Katherine is." She pulled Matt's phone out of his jacket pocket and held it up to Gregor.

* * *

Leila walked up to the dormitory and reached for the door handle, pulling it open and stepping inside the dimly lit hallway. She took a few steps inside and stopped. She wrinkled her nose, sniffing the air around her.

The smell of blood stung her nose as she tried to locate it's source.

Leila started walking down the hallway again, this time at a quicker pace, her eyes darting back and forth, looking for the perpetrator. She stopped at an open door and peeked inside.

"Holy shit..." Leila took a step back, swallowing the hunger the sight of all the blood caused her. There were three dead bodies scattered across the room. She moved quickly pulling a small brown haired girl from Nettie's grasp, biting into her arm. She fed the poor thing and sent her out after compelling her to forget she saw her and Nettle. "Nettie what happened here?" She asked frantically, reaching for her sister.

Nettie was crouched low, her hands were up on her cheeks, and she was trying to wipe the blood away. But she had only managed to make a bigger mess of it. She looked feral as she glared at her sister.

"Nettie?"

"What?" Nettie said, shaking out of her daze. Her hands were still out in front of herself and she looked down at them. "I think I had an accident." She said shakily, still staring at the blood.

"It's going to be okay," Leila said, her voice a little choked. "But we have to get you out of here first, okay?" She grabbed Nettie's wrists gently and helped her to her feet.

Nettie pulled away and tackled her sister on to the blood soaked carpet. She bared her teeth, going for her sister. But Leila caught it and threw Nettie across the room.

Nettle hit the back wall, falling to the floor roughly. She staggered to her feet, grabbing onto the wall. "Leila?" She said, the room around her growing dark.

Leila watched her sister hit the floor again, this time closing her eyes and not moving. She had passed out once again, leaving two bodies Leila was going to have to get rid of, and a whole lot of blood.

Leila stood in shock, jaw agape as she fumbled, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. She called Caroline. "I need help..."

* * *

"She's asleep still." Leila whispered, Caroline throwing Nettie's shoes into the garbage bin.

"Sleeping is better than murdering innocent college students." Caroline told her. "This is not like Nettie. And why do I feel like we should know more than we do here?"

"I don't know what's gotten into her. I haven't seen her like this since Prom. She's been doing so well." Leila looked to Caroline, worry in her expression.

"What about the party?" She asked Leila, raising her brow. "Nettie was actually looking forward to it." Caroline and Nettie had talked about it during Art studies. She was happy now that every event she was invited to didn't involve fancy dresses and shoes that could break your ankle. She could just be herself... Sort of.

"I... I don't know. I mean, she'll be awake in time, right? She can't sleep all the way through until tomorrow." Leila bit her bottom lip.

"At this point anything is possible."

* * *

Nettie sat quietly on the edge of her bed. She had put on a knee high dress and her black boots. Then she had sat back down, not talking as her sister got ready. She had woken late in the night and snuck a hot shower, washing the blood from her skin and changing into something clean. She hadn't woken Leila. She wouldn't have known what to say.

Leila looked at Nettie through the mirror as she pulled her hair up into a messy high ponytail. "You doing okay?" She asked her sister.

"I didn't sleep." She said, looking towards the window. She could see all the bustling people, piling into cars, bags packed.

"You sure you're still up for a road trip to Mystic Falls? You could just stay here and rest. Maybe it'd be for the best." Leila didn't really like the idea of leaving Nettie alone, though, especially after the incident. And she was looking forward to the annual ringing of the bell party herself. But if her sister wanted to stay home, Leila would stay too. Nettie's health was more important than a party.

"No it's fine. I sort of need out of this place for a night..." She hadn't felt the first two girls she had killed. She knew it was an accident. Something that happened because she turned alone. But she felt bad this time, like she didn't need to hurt those girls. Like it could have been avoided. And what was it all even for? It hadn't done anything for her hunger. Her stomach hurt and she felt sick.

"All right, if you're sure." Leila turned around and grabbed her little black sweater from the top of the dresser and slipped it on. "Are you ready, then? You look nice."

She looked down at her white dress and black boots. A strange ensemble. But that was Nettie; strange. "I can still smell the blood." She whispered.

"It'll go away eventually. Believe me, I know." Leila looked to Nettie. "Remember when we got mad at each other before you disappeared?" She paused, furrowing her brow. The memory was a little fuzzy to her. She couldn't remember what she and Nettie had been fighting about, just that Elizabeth had been brought up.

"Unfortunately." Nettie said blinking. She was rather despondent from her little murder excursion.

"Well when I got angry and ran off, I was out of my own control. I hadn't been feeding right, I was starving myself... Well, I killed... someone." Leila bit her lip. She'd tried to push back the memory, but it was something hard to forget. It would live with her forever.

"My body count is at five now. I don't count the vampires..." She muttered, standing up off the bed and grabbing her thin sweater. "I just feel like I should have been able to stop myself. I've been doing it long enough for Christ sakes."

"Accidents happen." Leila told her. "And just as..." She stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

"What?" Nettie eyed her.

"I..." She put a hand to her head. "It's nothing." She smiled at Nettie. "I just meant I'll be here for you. Let's go."

* * *

Nettie stepped out of the passenger side of her Impala. Leila had been insistent on being the one to drive, like she was worried Nettie would pass out at the wheel or something. Leila got out of the car and walked around to meet her sister. "Wonder who all decided to come to this little shindig..." Leila looked around. She couldn't help but hope deep down that Samuel might be there.

"You hoping for someone in particular?" Nettie raised her brow quizzically.

Leila blinked, glancing at her sister. "Uhm... No?" She tapped her foot nervously at the question.

"You're lying to me." Nettie smiled sadly but it was the first real smile since yesterday so Leila smiled back at her.

"W-What makes you think I'm lying to you?" Leila crossed her arms, trying her best to make eye-contact with Nettie. It would be embarrassing to tell her sister she was looking for her great great grandfather.

"You're lucky I'm in a bad mood and I'm going to let you get away with that." Nettie pointed at her teasingly.

"I love you," Leila said innocently, giggling softly.

"Nettie," Samuel said in greeting, nodding. "Leila."

Leila opened her mouth to say something when she met Samuel's gaze but stopped short. She looked to Nettie from the corner of her eye and just waved at Sam instead of saying anything.

"Oh." Nettie grinned this time, "I see." She nudged Leila, taking her arm in hers and whispering into her ear, "Samuel."

Leila's cheeks turned a light shade of red and she looked away, gaze falling on a beer jug to her right. "I'm getting a drink. I'll be back," she said nervously. She pulled her arm from Nettie's.

"It's been a long few days." She told Sam. "She's not normally a drinker." She watched the look in his eye as she gave him information he hadn't known he'd wanted. "Where's your bodyguard?" She asked him, changing the subject.

Nettie's eyes scanned the crowd for Joseph, instead finding Caroline and her new friend Jesse. "Isn't he normally right behind you?" She asked him.

Samuel smirked. "He shouldn't be far off Nettie." He had a thoughtful look before he turned to her. "I fear telling you what I am about to will break some kind of brotherhood bond. But as we are family I feel I must speak the truth to you."

"Okay Gloomy... Go on then." She told him, wondering why he was acting like a freak. She wasn't close enough with him to hear his entire life story.

"You need to be careful when it comes to Joseph." She raised a brow, glaring at him intently. "I can see the way my friend looks at you Nettle and while I think it's nice that he sees something he likes after many years of it just being us... There are things you don't know about him."

"Right." She clicked her tongue, "Well right now I would have to say that you were right. Whatever he hasn't said to me is most likely for him to say. But I doubt it's worse than..." She trailed off as Leila rejoined them.

"Hey..." She said softly, before taking a sip of beer from the red cup in her hand. "Sorry, I got thirsty." She started tapping the toe of her black boot in the dirt. She put the cup to her lips again and looked around at the crowd from behind it as someone rang a bell and called out the name of their deceased loved one.

"Me too..." Nettie mumbled.

"We're vampires Leila." Samuel said out of the blue. "Hungry comes with the territory." He glared at her gloomily.

Leila furrowed her brow at Sam, before glancing at Nettie. "No, you're not drinking alcohol."

"I wasn't talking about alcohol..." Nettie looked back to the crowd, distracted.

Leila frowned. "You just fed yesterday... Fed a lot," she said in a hushed tone, just loud enough for Nettie and Samuel could hear. "You can't tell me you want more."

"Yeah well. Still hungry." Nettie's mind had begun to wander. She had no idea why she cared where Joseph was, but she seemed to.

"Then take her out to feed, Sam." Leila looked to him. She seemed slightly annoyed. "Cause I'm not. She just..." Leila stopped. It wasn't her place to tell Samuel what Nettie had done. "I just know she doesn't need it."

Nettie smacked Leila's arm, "I'm gonna go look for someone more interesting to talk to. Have fun..." She whispered the last bit, "If that's possible."

Leila huffed when Nettie left her and Sam, crossing her arms and looking the other direction. "It's never easy anymore..." She mumbled.


End file.
